Games of Slaanesh
by TheZadak
Summary: Slaanesh toys with her followers, victims and converts; Tau, Human, Astartes, Eldar... all are fair game to she who thirsts. This three part story follows tau captives and heretic space marines as they try to survive in the face of chaos
1. Part 1: Chapter 1

_"Even those with little presence in the warp can fall to its effects in realspace. The pleasures of the flesh are alluring to all who feel them."_ – Nidhiki, Sorcerer, Knights of Ecstasy, 037.M41

* * *

Kaida scrambled around the ruins to get away from the giant Space Marines. She spotted a tower and decided that it would be a good idea to hide at the top; maybe they wouldn't look up there.

Her entire team was dead, killed by the few Space Marines that arrived by transport tanks, right into the heat of battle. The fight was short; the Marines exited their transports in dark purple and gold armour then unleashed all their fire power. The Marine guns' power was nothing overwhelming for the most part, but the sound it made was terrifying, Kaida's ears were still ringing from the volume. These guns would unleash the most incredible high pitched screech with a gigantic shockwaves of bass. It must have been the sound itself that caused the damage, there were no explosions or impacts that one would expect from incoming fire.

Her pathfinder team was part of a rear guard contingent, sent to keep the main force safe from any flanking manoeuvres. Her team was there to act as a support for the two fire warrior strike teams that they were with. She was one of six pathfinders whose job it was to guide the sights of the fire warriors' rifles with markerlights, if she did her job right the fire warriors would rarely miss and even space marines would fall under the overwhelming firepower of the Tau pulse rifles. But markerlights are difficult to use and require the user to stay calm and keep still. She couldn't stay calm and focused when the shockwave of sound hit her location. Not only did the sound burst into her ears and nearly deafen her, but it attacked her head like a drill boring its way into the centre of her brain. That, and her cover was being eaten away by the destructive force of the guns. While she ran for cover, her team dead or dying, she knew the fire warrior teams were operating with no markerlights. Fire Warriors are well trained but they are trained to use the markerlights to provide maximum efficiency. Before the battle was over, Kaida knew that with her team scattered, the Fire Warriors would not be able to overcome the marines, and the battle would be lost.

Kaida could now only hope that in the main battle, Aun'Esa would lead the rest of the Cadre to victory. She had great faith in the Ethereal, as any member of the Fire Caste should, but this time she could feel it, a foreboding feeling in her gut that the others in the Cadre had not managed to keep the other Space marines at bay in the main battle. "No!" she thought, "Do not doubt the greater good, our cause will always win through." She tried to convince herself that the Cadre would defeat the super humans, but doubt had crept into her mind.

Kaida had managed to scale the tower, her light pathfinder armour did not get in the way and she would not have been able to climb the tower any easier if she was not wearing armour at all.

She looked over the scene of the firefight and at the Space Marines, what were they doing? They were walking about the dead and talking to each other. This was what worried Kaida the most; the Marines were acting casually with no sense of urgency, no sense of distress, it was clear that they were not being called away to the other part of the battle. She could not hear the sounds of battle coming from far away, her ears were still ringing from the fight but she could tell there were no gunshots coming from the distance.

The Marines were talking with each other and Kaida could understand what they were saying. She had been a volunteer to learn the Imperium's language and she had taken to it rather well, a lot better than much of the rest of her class.

"Reptile!" called one of the marines, with a cold metallic voice, it must have been the sound of his voice distorted by his helmet.

The one with the sword who was close to Kaida's position looked round. His armour was purple with gold trim, his left shoulder pad was pink, maybe this denoted rank.

"I'm getting word from Esskrimar and Irrississ that they have been victorious and have taken minimal losses."

"That is good to hear, brother, any word on spoils?"

"Esskrimar says his catch is very impressive."

"Then ours will have to be better," said the Marine with the sword.

"Yes, Reptile," replied the lower ranked marine, like finding a better prize was a mission all on its own.

This "Reptile" was a high ranking Space Marine, Kaida remembered him leading the attack, standing strong and being totally indomitable. She also remembers him cutting down her cadre with his sword; he had been trained in the arts of close combat and no doubt had many decades of combat experience. In the battle he ran forward, killing Fire Warrior after Fire Warrior, friend after friend. She HATED this marine. He removed his helmet, to reveal a bald head with very sharp features. He stood for a moment, rearranging the pink hairs in his helmet plume; then he paused. Kaida had moved her foot, just to improve her balance, surely he couldn't have heard that, even Kaida didn't hear anything when she adjusted herself.

He looked up at Kaida's hiding spot in the tower, he did hear it, she knew Space Marines were good, but that was impossible, no one can hear like that. She ducked her head as soon as the Marine laid eyes upon her.

"There is someone up there, a live one." He said to the nearest marine.

"Are you sure?"

"Do not doubt me brother."

"How should we get it down here?"

"I don't think we can scale the ruin," said Reptile, thinking aloud.

"I could..."

"It's not your acrobatic ability that I call into question, Narcius," explained Reptile, "It is the structural integrity of the ruin that gives me cause for concern. It would not take the weight of an Asartes."

"We could bring it down," suggested Narcius, "it would take no more than a well placed krak grenade to bring the whole tower down."

"It's a good thought..." Reptile then whispered into the side of Narcius' helmet, it was too quiet for Kaida to hear. He then went to the tower with a grenade in hand; he then slapped it into place on one of the walls. Kaida thought this was it, the tower would come crashing down and she would be broken from the fall, then the Marines would take her prisoner in the name of their "Emperor". This would not be a fate that would help the cause of the greater good.

The grenade still hadn't gone off, what were they waiting for. Reptile moved back and looked up at her position, she ducked her head again, but she knew it was useless, they already knew where she was. "We are taking you with us, Tau, no matter what happens."

Kaida said nothing, as much as she would want to deny it, she was not going to escape them. She sat up to look at Reptile, acknowledging what he said. She also looked over the small battle zone and could see other Marines checking dead Fire Warriors, and executing the injured with their pistol or their boot, or some other grizzly method. "I will however, offer you a deal," continued Reptile, "If you climb down from the tower now, we will not destroy it and you will not be injured. If you refuse to come with us, then I pull the pin, this tower comes crashing down, you end up with many broken bones and your time with us is a lot more unpleasant."

Kaida didn't need long to think. You tend to think quicker when what you are in is rigged to explode. She climbed down.

"I knew you would see sense," said Reptile as he watched her climb down the tower.

Narcius turned to Reptile, "That is quite a find. Maybe you will have Esskrimar bested after all."

Reptile held out his hand to take Kaida's as if he was offering some polite service to a noble. "Our unit deserves the recognition, don't you think?"

Kaida took the hand of Reptile, scared of what might happen to her if she refused. She then used his hand to support herself for the last large step down.

As they walked along, Kaida saw that all her friends were dead all around her, but what struck her the most was the smell. The air stank of blood and death, and it all came from her friends; people she had trained with, eaten with, and joked with only the night before. And here she was holding the hand of the man that made it all happen; that led the victorious enemy forces.

He then led her to the armoured transport that the Marines arrived in. It was the same colour violet as the Marines' body armour. He was holding the terrified Kaida like a parent may hold a child in an unfamiliar place. Reptile hit the door of the transport with his fist, it then opened. "What is your name, girl?" asked Reptile.

Kaida has had her helmet on since before the battle started; humans normally have difficulty telling the Tau genders apart, especially if in full battle gear, this marine must have good eyes. "Kaida," she replied shakily, still worried about what might happen to her if she refused something from these marines.

"Get in here, Kaida," said Reptile as he gestured for her to get into the transport, "Stay in the Rhino, you'll be on our ship soon enough." Kaida got in to the "rhino" and the door slowly closed behind her. Reptile kept his eyes fixed on her as the door closed. "Don't be scared," he said just before the door slammed shut.

The rhino was empty, she was all alone in there. There was enough light to dimly illuminate her surroundings and it was a very basic interior, with little in the way of gadgets, it seemed to be little more than a metal box where the marines would be carried into battle. She could see where the walls had been repaired from battles long past with plates of metal welded in place to cover up holes and the floor where the marines would stand before running out the door had been worn down smooth. This rhino had seen a lot of action.

"What kind of thing was that to say to a prisoner?" thought Kaida, "Don't be scared?" The very absurdity of it all made Kaida forget about the fear that had made her walk with the marine and willingly get into the rhino. The situation got real again when she noticed a small vent in the corner start to pump fumes into the vehicle. Kaida hurriedly looked around for a release switch or valve, or something to open a door or a hatch. But there was no time, before Kaida found anything useful, she lost consciousness.


	2. Part 1: Chapter 2

Kaida felt a cold metal surface against the side of her head; her helmet had been removed. She sat up and opened her eyes to find that she was in a small room, there was a large bed on one side and on the other side, several shelves displaying all manner of things: helmets, weapons, skulls. She could feel the light breeze of air circulating through from the ventilation; she felt herself all over to make sure she was unharmed, it seemed so. The room vibrated with the ambient sound of a massive engine, life support systems and other background noises Kaida had come to associate with space travel. She was in a cabin on a space ship; not a Tau space ship though, this was a human ship. The bed was very big and the door was closed, this was probably a space marine cabin being used to keep the prisoners in place.

Kaida couldn't believe her eyes, on the bed sat three figures one was, her grace, Aun'Esa, the other two were fire warriors that Kaida didn't personally know. Immediately Kaida bowed her head, and moved her feet round into a kneeling position.

"You don't need to kneel for me, Pathfinder," said the ethereal calmly. Aun'Esa sat on the bed with her legs crossed, she stayed calm and acted as if everything would be OK. The other two fire warriors, both male, had been sitting and looked like they had been listening intently to whatever the Ethereal had been saying.

Kaida stayed kneeling, "I must apologize for our teams' failure. We failed to stop the space marines. They massacred our position."

The fire warrior on the bed who had a big gash across the side of his face and was holding his left shoulder asked callously, "If the teams you were with were massacred, how come you are unharmed?"

Kaida didn't answer, but she knew he had a point. She was totally uninjured. She knew that this didn't look good, the fire caste is meant to fight to the end for the cause of the greater good. It looked like Kaida ran without fighting. This was not true; she did her duty until nothing could save her unit from total destruction.

Aun'Esa broke the tension, "Sit with us, Pathfinder." Kaida got up and sat next to the other members of the fire caste so she could be enlightened by the ethereal herself. "I have failed you all in battle, noble fire warriors, but the greater good will prevail, even in this, darkest of situations." Her voice was comforting, wise and authoritative, only a fool would refuse to listen to her. "I have spotted no imperial symbolism, so these marines may be renegade. This means that they might not follow the ways of the human god-emperor, and maybe their minds can be moulded. Can you imagine what an asset these marines would be to the Tau Empire?"

None of the fire caste replied; no reply is needed when an ethereal speaks reason. Aun'Esa continued, "Fighting is not the answer here. They will kill any of us if we try anything foolish, just use your words and the wisdom of the greater good will shine through; they will see the logic in our cause."

The unmistakably heavy footsteps of space marines could be heard coming to the door, all the Tau on the bed turned to see who was going to open the door and what they would do with the prisoners.

Aun'Esa added one more note of caution before they entered, "do what they say, but always remember our cause is righteous, believe in it and they will see it to be right as well."

The door unlocked with a metallic "clunk" and in walked two space marines in full armour except for their helmets, they appeared to be carrying no weapons.

One was Reptile, now Kaida could see him fully with her own eyes; he had sharp, pointy features and a fine example of a human face, except for several things; Kaida didn't notice them before. He had no external ears; just holes where the ears of a human should be and his blue eyes had slit pupils. A cunning smile crept up one side of his face when he caught Kaida looking at him. She immediately looked away.

The other marine was a brutish figure, he had a paler complexion than Reptile and his scalp was covered in an elaborate pattern of purple tattoos.

This other marine barked out the order, "On your feet!" Kaida immediately obeyed, she slipped off the bed and stood up in front of the marines. Aun'esa, while clambering off the bed repeated the order in Tau, so the other fire warriors could also obey.

"You said you found a good prize, Esskrimar?" inquired Reptile.

"I found their leader," smiled the other marine, "I assume yours is one of the grunts."

Reptile then looked at Kaida, "The young lady here came with us back to the ship."

"Young lady?" sniggered Esskrimar. "Which one is that?"

Reptile sighed, "The one with the 'Y' shape on her head."

"Is that how you tell them apart?" said Esskrimar, stooping to get a closer look at Kaida's face. "If it wasn't for that, there would be no way to tell them apart at all."

"You can't see the differences?" asked Reptile.

"No. Not with the armour anyway. It's an ugly species, don't you think?"

"I think they are a beautiful race," commented Reptile.

Esskrimar whipped round to face Reptile, "You would think that, wouldn't you!" Esskrimar snapped, as if a deep seeded hatred had suddenly been awakened, seemingly out of nowhere. "I know your what you do."

Reptile remained still and calm. "Calm down, brother." Esskrimar immediately stood back. "Remember the Banshees?" asked Reptile softly. "That would never have happened without you."

"And you made it one of the most glorious moments in my memory," smiled Esskrimar. He then looked over the Tau prisoners, inspecting them, as he walked around them. Kaida felt every footstep he took, when he walked near the whole floor seemed to bend to his weight.

To Kaida's surprise and dread, Aun'Esa took a deep breath and broke the silence. "There are no symbols of the Human Emperor on this ship."

"You dare speak?" snapped Esskrimar, as he immediately stopped pacing round the captives, and glared at the Ethereal.

"Don't be so quick to silence, brother," said Reptile. "What do you have to say, Tau?"

Aun'Esa took a deep breath and continued, "As there are no imperial symbols here, I was thinking that you are not part of the Imperium." Aun'Esa was clearly not as well practiced in Gothic as Kaida, a heavy Tau accent distorted her speech.

"You are very observant." commented Reptile.

"Good," said Aun'Esa with a heavy exhale. "May I suggest a cultural exchange? So you can see the merits of our ways and promises of the greater good."

"What makes you think we'll be interested?" asked Esskrimar.

"Because you are warriors without a cause," remarked the Ethereal, "what greater purpose could there be than fighting for the greater good of the Tau empire and the future of the whole galaxy?"

Esskrimar looked over at Reptile, "We don't need a cause," he said. Esskrimar looked around the room some more, then lunged suddenly with his fist at Kaida. She let out a scream and cowered in fear covering her face. She looked between her fingers, and the marine had stopped with his hand just short of her head. He withdrew, laughing to himself "You found a real winner with this one, Reptile! She's got all the courage of a small child." Esskrimar looked back at Reptile "I'm sick of this room, brother; it reminds me of those we have lost."

"Shall we leave?" asked Reptile.

"Yes." stated, Esskrimar. "Would you like to take their leader?"

Reptile gave another look at Kaida and gave her a smile. "No, I prefer the Warrior."

"Suit yourself," said Esskrimar. "I'll take this one then; it is my catch after all." He walked over to the ethereal and grabbed her by the arm; he nearly pulled her off her feet as he went to leave the room with her. The fire warriors were distressed by this, but Aun'Esa said to them on her way out, "I will share my wisdom and he will see the truth. Don't be worried."

Reptile waited for the other marine to leave then reached out to the pathfinder, "Take my hand, Kaida."

She looked at his hand and knew that if she took it, the fire warriors would think that she was submissive, but if she refused, who knows what these renegade marines would do. She placed her hand in his massive grasp, he didn't grip her tightly, he simply led her out of the room. Kaida made two steps for every step that Reptile made; he was so much bigger than her, so big that she felt like an infant holding his hand.


	3. Part 1: Chapter 3

Reptile led Kaida by hand down a narrow hallway with identical doors lining the walls on either side. She looked back and caught sight of Aun'Esa being dragged away by Esskrimar and doubt began to creep into Kaida's mind again. Was there any way Kaida could talk to the marines? And if she could, surely they wouldn't accept the greater good. Maybe they will listen to the wisdom of the ethereal; even savage renegade marines will take heed of teachings so wise.

Reptile led her into one of the rooms, it was identical to the room she had come from in terms of layout, but it had different trinkets on display. On the top shelf there was a set of strange helmets from around the galaxy, on the shelf below; there was a sword, not of human origin, and an empty space marine plasma gun. These were probably mementoes or trophies from battles long ago. The door closed and she spotted her own helmet. It was blue, as is the uniform colour of warriors from her Sept, and it had the unmistakably long tail to it that all pathfinder helmets have.

"You recognize it?" asked Reptile, referring to her helmet. Kaida simply looked up at him, as he continued, "I like it, it's got a nice shape to it, and the technology in the optics is very impressive. I'm afraid my head is a little too big to try it on myself."

Kaida failed to laugh at the joke.

"I like your hair; it's a shame that it was hidden under the helmet."

Kaida didn't know how to take a compliment from her captor, she reached round to feel her hair; she was shaved bald except for her red pony tail at the back of her head, a common hair style among Tau.

"This is my cabin. This is where I sleep, where I keep my personal belongings and for today, this is where I entertain guests."

Kaida remained quiet.

"I have been wearing armour for too long." He held his finger against a box on the wall and spoke into it, "I want to remove my armour, send someone up."

A distorted crackle of noise answered back, Kaida couldn't make out the words over the static.

"Now, shall we have a conversation?" asked Reptile as he sat down on his bed.

"What?" asked Kaida, very timidly.

"You speak Gothic, at least you seem to understand it well enough. And I have never spoken with a member of your species before." Reptile waited for Kaida to say something, but he was met with nothing but nervous silence from the pathfinder. "Have you ever spoken to an astartes before?"

Kaida looked at Reptile in confusion.

"'Astartes' means 'Space Marine'" clarified Reptile.

Kaida shook her head.

"Have you ever spoken to a human before?"

Kaida let out some words in the shakiest of whispers, "I learned Gothic from a human."

Kaida was about to repeat what she said louder when Reptile said, "That makes sense," she thought she spoke too faintly, but Reptile heard just fine. He continued, "He taught you well, you don't have the same strong accent that your leader has."

Kaida didn't reply.

"You must be worried about her," said Reptile, "An ethereal, isn't she?" Kaida nodded. "You have no reason for concern; Esskrimar may look like a brute but he can handle things with care when he is asked, although he would not be interested in talking like I am." This failed to ease her worries for Aun'Esa's safety.

"I fear all the talk of your 'greater good' will fall on deaf ears on this ship," explained Reptile. "We have no use for godless ideology here."

Kaida still said nothing, so Reptile filled the silence again, "There was doubt in her voice; she didn't believe in what she was saying, but how would you ever see that." He paused for a moment and leaned closer to Kaida. "Let me ask you, would you ever question an ethereal if you thought they were wrong?"

Kaida couldn't comprehend the idea of an Ethereal being wrong, in her mind it just didn't happen, they were beings of infinite wisdom and saw reason in all things. She didn't continue the conversation.

Reptile once again broke the silence, "You don't speak much, and I think I understand why."

"You killed my team," she could feel her emotions getting the better of her, just by mentioning her squad the faces of the friends she had lost flashed across her mind.

"I did," said Reptile, "and I know exactly how you feel. Do you wish that you had been with them and fought to the end?"

Kaida nodded.

"Do you hate me and my team more than anything in the galaxy?"

Kaida nodded again.

"Yes, I know that feeling," said Reptile as if recalling a memory, "and you're scared as well; terrified that I might do some manner of horrible thing to you."

Kaida didn't want to look weak in front of her captor, but she had to give him an answer. "Yes."

"Let me put you at ease about that, you will not be harmed in my company, I promise you." Reptile gazed at Kaida, he had a look of total sincerity on his face.

Moments of nothing but listening to the constant low rumble of the ship's engine, the occasional footsteps outside the door and staring into the face of Kaida's imposing captor. Then there came a tapping from the door. "Enter," said Reptile.

Four humans came in. They were normal humans, not hulking space marines, two were male and two were female. They were wearing black and purple robes with fine and intricate trim, each one of them had their right breast exposed and walked barefoot. They knew the routine for undressing Reptile, they lifted the big parts of armour, like the shoulder pads and the back pack, off as a team, and could slip off the smaller pieces around his arms with ease.

Reptile watched the servants briefly, and then looked back at Kaida as he stood up so the humans could remove all his armour. "There is no need for battle dress anymore," he told her, "you should take your armour off as well. We should have something more fitting for you here."

"You want me to undress?" asked Kaida in disbelief.

"It's an order," said Reptile, reaffirming his dominance over the Tau captive.

Thoughts of the violence the space marine would bring down on her if she resisted flooded Kaida's mind; she did what he said without resisting. She released the shoulder catches for her breastplate and caught it before it clattered to the ground; she then did the same for her back armour. It was then a simple task of slipping off her small pathfinder pauldrons and light gauntlets over her gloved hands. That's all it took for Kaida to remove her armour. She looked back at Reptile; he was still being worked on. The hard plates of his armour had been removed. Now the humans were working on a mechanical layer of the armour.

"You are not finished," said Reptile, eyes fixed on Kaida.

One of the human servants spoke up, "Apologies my lord. The interface layer will be off momentarily."

"I was talking to my guest." Reptile's gaze didn't leave his captive, but a smile did creep across his face.

Kaida knew what he wanted, he wanted her to be naked, naked along with him. Is this normal for a space marine? But she didn't hesitate. She pulled off her gloves one by one, and then slid her top over her head. She then worked her boots over her hooves, then her baggy pathfinder trousers. She then stopped with only a vest and shorts covering her decency, waiting for as long as she could for Reptile to say to stop.

Reptile was slipping out of his interface layer with the aid of his servants. Kaida could see his bare body for the first time, she had not seen any anatomical pictures of Space Marines during her education. This could be the first time a Tau has seen a living space marine outside his armour. He was still massive; his entire body was bound in highly developed muscle, which was so well defined by the light glinting off every ripple of his physique. All over his body were small holes; they looked like electrical nodes for interfacing with his armour. "Now you can see me," said Reptile, the servants moved away so Kaida could see Reptile's entire naked form. "What do you think?"

Kaida didn't answer, out of her clothes, she felt more vulnerable than ever.

"The astartes were created to be gods among men," continued Reptile, "and we are, in both presence and combat ability."

One of the female servants spoke, "You are magnificent, my lord."

Kaida still didn't answer; Reptile gave her the order, "Continue undressing, I want to see all of you."

She slowly slipped off her vest and dropped it down, then slid her shorts off her hips, and stepped out of them when they landed on the ground. She stood trying to cover herself with her arms; she was feeling extreme fear at the thought of being so vulnerable, not only that, but Reptile and his servants were now staring at her naked body as if it was a specimen on display in some kind of living museum or a zoo.

"Beautiful," said Reptile with a smile, he seemed to be sincere and Kaida could see now that maybe, just maybe, Reptile wouldn't hurt her.

"She's very small." dismissed one of the female servants. "Her chest is flat and her hips are too thin." The small amount of comfort Kaida got from Reptile left her.

"You speak out of turn," snapped Reptile at the servant. "I'm done with you; you have my leave to go." The human servants swiftly left the room, leaving the armour behind.

The door closed with a slam and when the gust of air blown in by the door sent a chill down the spine of the young Tau pathfinder, she found that the whole atmosphere of the room changed. She was naked and alone with the man that lead the fight that got her entire team killed. He was domineering in his appearance. The way he had been looking at Kaida finally made sense to her; this was how it was going to end. She was going to die when this hulk rapes her, he would crush her, beat her, maybe she would live through it; maybe she would live out her days as Reptile's play thing. This is why she was brought to his cabin, so he could have his way with her. No more fighting for the greater good, no more honour, no more dignity, only shame until death. Kaida felt a tear creep down her face, but she wiped it away quickly so Reptile wouldn't see; then moved her arm quickly back to cover herself. One last look at Reptile was enough, the lump in her throat grew and she could stand the sight of his naked body no more; she pulled her gaze away and closed her eyes, squeezing yet more tears onto her face.

Then warmth, covering, something had been laid over her shoulders. She grasped it and pulled it around herself, covering her body and keeping it warm, it was lined in fur and was a soft and welcome relief against her cold skin. She looked up to see who had given her this gift, it could have only been one person but she could scarcely believe it, she needed to see it. Reptile was standing over her. She looked up at him as he walked over to his footlocker to retrieve a robe of his own. "Thank you," said Kaida softly.

"You were getting cold," said Reptile, "and you are my guest." as he slipped his own robe over his head.

Kaida spoke nervously again, "I'm your prisoner."

Reptile stood in front of Kaida and sat down on the floor, Kaida took a step back to avoid his feet coming forwards. He was just below eye level with her, "I killed your squad, this is true. But I chose to bring you back, and now you are not my enemy."

"You won't hurt me?" asked Kaida.

"I will look after you, for as long as you are under my protection."

"I thought Space Marines were all savages."

Reptile laughed, "Is that what they told you about us in Tau school; what else did they tell you about us?"

"They said you were to be feared in combat, and you worship the human emperor." The smile dropped from Reptile's face. "But you are not a part of the Imperium, so I don't think you do worship the emperor." What she said echoed the words spoken by the ethereal.

"You are right." said Reptile "Do you know who we fight for?"

Kaida very cautiously said "No," as she was unsure as to whether she wanted to know the answer.

"We are called the Knights of Ecstasy, our origins lie in the legion of the Emperor's Children; we are full in our devotion to Slaanesh," explained Reptile.

This meant nothing to Kaida, she just stared blankly at Reptile.

"Maybe you have heard of the forces of Chaos," he continued.

Alarm bells started ringing in her head, "Chaos!" she exclaimed, as she took some steps back from Reptile. She remembered that her teachers had always said that the Water Caste would seek out diplomatic relations with enemies before an engagement; all enemies except, Tyranids, Orks and Chaos.

"Not all Chaos is the same, Kaida" argued Reptile, "they might have taught you about the bloodthirsty forces of Khorne, or the forces of Nurgle who spread decay and disease wherever they go, or maybe the forces of Tzeench who dabble in sorcery and great elaborate schemes. We devote ourselves to Slaanesh and he gives us the greatest pleasures from the most extraordinary sensations imaginable. We do not kill and maim everyone we come across like the other parts of Chaos, and we will not kill you just for being an alien like the Imperium."

The initial shock of the word 'Chaos' had left Kaida, she didn't remember enough from her education to know fully what chaos meant, and she was doubtful that they even told her the full story.

"Kaida," began Reptile with a smile, "You are so young, you can't possibly understand everything Slaanesh can offer you."

"Is Slaanesh your god?" asked Kaida carefully.

"Yes," said Reptile, "but no false god like the God Emperor, Slaanesh and his power is real and divine beyond doubt. Maybe you will hear the music we play in praise of Slaanesh; maybe you will see the creations that are made here in praise of her; maybe you will experience all the pleasures Slaanesh has to offer you."


	4. Part 1: Chapter 4

Kaida was allowed to put on her clothes again, but not her armour and Reptile gave her the cloak to take back to the cabin she was in before. After being led there, she saw that one of the fire warriors was already there, it was clear that he had been taken out of the room; he was topless and covered in bruises. They weren't big bruises that you would expect from violence with space marines, maybe they were inflicted by humans. He was fit and strong as any fire warrior should be, but the memory of Reptile's extreme figure made this tau's body look tiny in comparison. The fire warrior was uninjured when Kaida saw him before.

"What happened to you? You look awful." she asked.

"I've been fighting," said the fire warrior. He started doing practice punches to an invisible target in front of him. "One of the Marines took me away and forced me to fight humans. They watched the fights, and they enjoyed it."

Maybe Kaida was right about marines being brutes. "That's so savage," she commented.

"I enjoyed it," said the fire warrior. This Kaida did not expect, "It's exciting, you know, it's a rush. Every time I landed a punch there was a brutal satisfaction to it. Every time I was hit, it was like someone releasing pressure in my body, like steam from a valve."

"Have you always liked fighting?" asked Kaida, wondering if they had brainwashed him or something.

"I enjoyed our close combat training, what little of it there was; but now I just want to be in that ring again." He stopped rehearsing his combat moves, "What about you? Where did you get that cloak?"

"I got it from Reptile."

"Reptile?"

"He's the Marine that came for me. He didn't make me fight or anything..."

"What did he do with you?" interrupted the fire warrior.

Kaida was embarrassed; she didn't want to give him the full story. "He just... talked to me; he told me about the space marines on this ship."

"Anything useful?"

Kaida shared her true feelings about the situation, "I don't think what I learned will change anything, we're stuck here with no way of contacting our forces, and I don't think the Marines are just going to let us go."

"Aun'Esa said they can be turned to the greater good," argued the fire warrior. "She would only tell us the truth and would only give us the wisest advice."

"Yes," agreed Kaida with a sigh, "We should wait for something, maybe Aun'Esa will be returned to us."

The fire warrior nodded in agreement, and then asked. "What's your name, pathfinder?"

"Kaida," said the pathfinder.

"I am Turo," said the fire warrior as he sat down on the floor, inviting Kaida to do the same. "Tell me what you know about the marines."

Kaida sat in front of him, careful not to step or sit on the cloak. "They are a chapter called the 'Knights of Ecstasy' and they come from the 'Emperor's Children'."

"I thought they were renegades," wondered Turo aloud, "Why do they say they come from the 'Emperor's Children'?"

"I don't know," said Kaida, agreeing to the confusion, "It's really strange. They don't worship the Emperor at all; they worship a god called Slaanesh."

"I think I've heard of Slaanesh."

"It's a Chaos god."

"No..." said Turo, searching his brain for information, "I remember Slaanesh and Eldar being mentioned in the same sentence. Maybe it's an Eldar god?"

"Does it matter though?" said Kaida, "there are no gods."

"So the ethereals have said," confirmed Turo, "It's good to know something about the enemy though."

The door to the cabin swung open and a body of cloth and blue flesh was tossed in; it landed on the floor in a heap. As soon as Kaida and Turo noticed that it was Aun'Esa, they rushed to help her to her feet.

The deep bellow of Esskrimar was heard coming from outside the door, "You talk too much, tau! I don't want your words in my head anymore."

"If you would only listen, you would be wiser and you would not have a reason to protest," Aun'Esa argued back. Esskrimar was having none of it and simply slammed the door.

"Are you unharmed, my Lady?" asked Turo.

The Ethereal looked to be OK, there was no scarring or bruises like on Turo, even her robes were undamaged. "That brute nearly pulled my arm off." She was shaky in her speech, "apart from that, I'll be OK."

"What did they do with you?" asked Kaida.

"He took me away to watch some human dancing, and then fights between humans, but after I tried to tell him about the greater good he just left me with another marine." She explained, "I kept trying to spread the word, but none of them would listen, they all refused to talk to me. The human slaves found me to be a curiosity and stared at me, but even they did not take heed of my words."

Kaida and Turo were relieved to know that the ethereal was safe and unharmed.

"I am cold," Aun'Esa announced, "pathfinder, give me that cloak."

Kaida gave her the cloak with no hesitation.

"This is a fine piece of clothing, sometimes human craftsmanship is better than I expect," commented the Ethereal while donning the cloak. Kaida never took a lot of notice of its design when she had it on, but it was indeed beautifully made; an elaborate pattern was sown into the exterior fabric with incredible detail. Such a cloak was surely worthy of one such as an ethereal.

"We should sleep," said Aun'Esa, "There is no sense in just waiting and talking. We need our energy and our minds in full working order that we can speak sense to these marines."

Kaida decided that there was something that the ethereal should know as soon as possible, "If I may speak, my lady..."

"Go ahead, pathfinder," said the ethereal as she made herself comfortable on the bed.

"I learned that the Marines worship a god called Slaanesh."

The Ethereal froze immediately and looked directly at Kaida. "Then this is worse than I feared. This ship is a place of Chaos."

"Then what do we do?" asked Turo.

"The Marines do not want to listen to us, but logic is our only weapon in this struggle." Aun'Esa did not convey the same confidence as she did only hours earlier; she was stuttering, and shaking with anxiety. "We must dispel their primitive superstitions." She choked as she spoke, nearly giving way to tears, "that's all they are, just superstitions." She composed herself by rearranging her robes and adjusting the cloak Kaida had given her, "but for now, we must sleep. Our other fire warrior companion will be returned to us in time, I'm sure."

Aun'Esa turned round in the bed and wrapped herself up in the cloak. Kaida and Turo did as they were commanded and lay on the floor, not even thinking of disturbing the resting place of the ethereal.

Kaida turned to Turo and whispered "Did you see that, Aun'Esa is scared. Maybe we'll never get out of this."

"I don't know," said Turo. "Maybe we should just sleep; when the marines come again we need to be fully awake, like she said."

Kaida rolled onto her back, the only comfort left being the cold metal floor against her head. Being one of the Fire Caste, she was used to sleeping in rough conditions and the discomfort was not going to stop her from drifting off, not after a day like this.

 _Kaida dreamt of a bed. Full of the most attractive naked male tau of all castes that she could imagine. She approached, hoping for intimacy, but she found Aun'Esa in the middle of them all, she had all the men's gazes fixed upon her, as she did nothing but lie in the bed. Aun'Esa opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out but noise, unbearable noise, it was the same cacophony that Kaida remembered from the space marine guns on the battlefield. It filled her head with sound, it was horrible, it was so loud that it forced her to hold her hands up to her head to block out the noise. She looked around and she was the only one that was affected by it, all the other tau watched and listened to Aun'Esa as if they were listening to the most incredible wisdom that ethereals are expected to impart on their subjects._

 _The hand of a space marine fell onto Kaida's shoulder; she looked up to find Reptile. She held his hand and walked away from the Tau with him, as they walked away the sound faded. When there was no more sound, Reptile dropped to one knee, and Kaida just jumped to wrap her arms around him and embrace him as her saviour from the noise._

The door to the cabin opened and two large figures came in. Kaida sprang up immediately to see what was going on, the other two Tau rose only moments after. Reptile was one of the figures to come in, still in his robes; the other was another marine in full armour except for the helmet. This one had a full head of thick black hair and a strong well chiselled jaw. He spoke bluntly and directly to Turo with a gesture of his hand, "You, come with me," and Turo understood the hand signal and obeyed, he stood up and waited beside the marine.

Reptile offered Kaida his hand, she took it without hesitation and he helped her to her feet. With Kaida standing, he turned to Aun'Esa. "That cloak isn't yours."

The ethereal, who was sitting up with the cloak wrapped around her, took a moment to realise what Reptile was saying to her. "Is it yours?" asked Aun'Esa.

"I gave it to this young lady," said Reptile.

"And she gave it me," said Aun'Esa, "by doing so, she protected me from the cold and provided a small service to the greater good."

Reptile looked down at Kaida, then back at Aun'Esa, "Your robes of office provide more cover for you than all of what either of these two are wearing. Surely it would be of the greater good to let the ones who need it most have the cover, or maybe huddle together so you can all benefit from its warmth." Aun'Esa's face started to tremble. Reptile continued, "But no, you keep it for yourself, not only that, but you don't even let the warriors share the bed, despite it being more than big enough for you. They lay on the cold hard floor, while you lay in comfort."

"I'm sorry," Aun'Esa said in the Tau language to the two members of the Fire Caste, she then continued shakily in Gothic for the space marine. "I'm sorry, I was selfish." She fumbled to remove the cloak from her person; and Reptile took it off her before she could give it to him.

"You don't deserve this," said Reptile as he draped the cloak to over Kaida's shoulders, "I expected much more from you."

Kaida was stunned, she had never seen an Ethereal spoken to like that before, she didn't say anything, she just pulled the cloak around herself and walked with Reptile out the room, leaving Aun'Esa alone.

They were walking behind Turo and the other marine. She took a deep breath and found the courage to ask "Where are we going?"

"One of our Sorcerers wants to see you," he explained, "He believes it was a bad idea to bring you on this ship."


	5. Part 1: Chapter 5

Kaida, hand in hand with Reptile, was wondering about where they were going. "A sorcerer?" she inquired, not believing in magic, but still curious about the 'primitive superstitions' the marines held on to.

"A psyker," clarified Reptile, "He is gifted with the ability to manipulate the powers of the warp with his mind."

Kaida heard of psykers before, she was always taught that they were mysterious individuals and the warp energies they could wield were very dangerous. Despite what she had been taught, she had no idea what to expect.

"Nidhiki is older than you can imagine, he can remember the heresy itself and the attack on Terra. You know by now that I do not demand formalities, but Nidhiki does. You are to bow and refer to him as 'My Lord,' do you understand?"

Kaida nodded.

"You will need to interpret for your friend; I don't think he speaks Gothic."

They entered through double doors to reveal a dark place, the whole room was cast in shadow and there sat in a throne a massive, imposing figure in violet armour. He appeared much bigger than the other space marines Kaida had seen, the armour being far bulkier and heavier; this must have been the Terminator armour she heard mentioned by fire warriors in the past.

There were blue figures all around the giant, Kaida looked at them, but she couldn't focus on them. She kept looking and the more she did, the more they came into focus and the more she liked what she saw. They were tau, the most beautiful tau she had ever seen. She couldn't tell what caste they were from but that didn't matter; these were the most perfect examples of her species that she had ever seen, regardless of caste. They were wearing nearly nothing in the way of clothing, most only wore a purple or pink loin cloth; they were pierced all over with beautiful glinting jewels and etched with elaborate and graceful tattoos of symbolism and icons Kaida didn't recognise. They were all doting this psyker in some way, some were gazing at him in wonder, some were stroking his armour with their hands or their bodies, and one was sitting on his lap whispering into his ear. Why these tau were treating the sorcerer in such a way was impossible to guess.

The Space Marine that Kaida didn't know spoke first, "Lord Nidhiki, we have brought you two prisoners."

The sorcerer looked away from the beautiful tau that was close to him and said, "Good, Brutaka. Now leave us." The sorcerer sounded old and frail but his body did not match this description, he was huge. His head was buried in the beautifully decorated and richly adorned armour but the penetrating pink glow of his eyes made sure that his face was not lost in it.

Reptile turned to follow Brutaka out of the room, but Nidhiki stopped him, "Not you, Reptile, the handmaidens want me to speak with you too."

"Yes, my lord."

"Weren't there four tau prisoners?"

"Yes, my lord; the warrior that came on board injured fought us every step of the way, so we gave him over to Jeguda," explained Reptile. "We left the ethereal in the room; we think it would be a good idea to use her later."

Nidhiki smiled as he muttered to the tau close to his face, the tau then whispered something back in his ear. He then persisted with Reptile some more, "What will you use the ethereal for?"

"I can't talk about it right now, my lord; perhaps when you are finished with these tau."

Kaida was fixated by the tau surrounding Nidhiki's throne, they were beautiful but as they glared back at Kaida, she could feel their eyes on her, piercing black eyes, she wondered if they were even real.

Nidhiki whispered to the tau on his lap; that tau then got up to lead the others out of the room. As they passed they stroked the body of Reptile, he smiled and watched them as they did; Turo also received similar apparent affection and welcomed it.

One of them approached Kaida and reached inside her cloak to grope her breasts, Kaida moved back but Nidhiki's glare stopped her from resisting out of fear. The unknown tau then stroked her head and declared, "This one has no grasp of the warp, just like all the others, but that does not mean she cannot be influenced in this reality." He didn't seem like any tau Kaida had ever met before; he stared into Kaida's eyes, and past them, like he was looking into the very depths of her being. He paused and turned to look back at Nidhiki, "Keep this one, my love, she could be useful."

One of the others then followed it with "If you have to keep them at all," he said with contempt, "I've seen animals with more to their being."

"You exaggerate," argued Reptile.

"And you would know better?" snarled the strange tau.

"See for yourself," suggested Reptile.

The tau walked towards Kaida with a self righteous and imperious gait, totally unashamed of how naked he was, and grabbed Kaida's head. Seconds passed before she was pushed away when he discarded her from his grasp. The tau then gave a spiteful look to the space marine, and left the room.

Kaida's scalp was sore; she felt it to find a small amount of blood coming from where the strange tau had his fingers, 'Did he have claws,' thought Kaida. 'And how can he say that about his own species? Comparing us to animals is just unthinkable.' She started thinking that maybe these tau were not tau at all, maybe they were a psychic warp trick conjured up by the sorcerer. Kaida was sure that there was something not right about them. With the beautiful tau now gone from the room, the atmosphere in the room felt a little less hostile, but no less tense as Nidhiki stared the three of them down in turn.

The sorcerer's focus fell on Turo, he lifted a massive arm up and pointed to address the fire warrior, "Who is your master?"

Turo of course didn't understand the question, but Kaida was anxiously waiting for an answer from him, hoping he would remember the proper etiquette.

"Kaida," said Reptile, "Translate."

Kaida had briefly forgotten that Turo couldn't speak Gothic, given a few moments of realisation; she followed the order and repeated the question in Tau.

"Aun'Esa and the Ethereals of the Tau Empire," was the answer Turo gave to Kaida.

Kaida didn't relay the information to Nidhiki straight away, instead she spoke Tau to Turo again; "I don't think that's the answer he's looking for."

"I wouldn't say anything else," argued Turo.

Kaida spoke in gothic to relay the message, "He says the ethereals of the Tau Empire are his masters."

Nidhiki pushed harder with the question, "Who is your master on this ship?"

Kaida said in Tau "He wants to know who your master is here."

"Aun'Esa," said Turo simply.

Kaida didn't want to accept the answer, "He wants to hear something else," insisted Kaida.

"Just tell him 'Aun'Esa'," said Turo, "I'm not scared."

She took a deep breath and relayed the message, "He says Aun'Esa is the ethereal that he will follow on this ship."

"And how far would you follow this ethereal?" probed Nidhiki.

"He wants to know how far you would follow Aun'Esa," said Kaida in Tau.

"I would follow her to my death," replied Turo proudly.

"Until death," said Kaida in Gothic, having given up persuading Turo to say anything else.

Nidhiki's focus moved across to Kaida, "and what about you, who is so gifted with languages. Who is your master on board this ship?"

Kaida bowed quickly, she was desperate not to forget, and she now hoped that she did not leave her bow too late. Kaida looked at Turo, he probably did not know what the sorcerer was saying; so he wouldn't know about her shame if she said something that wasn't what was expected from a loyal member of the Fire Caste. She looked around at Reptile, who was her keeper as a prisoner, maybe this is what Nidhiki was looking for. "Reptile is my master on this ship."

"I see," said Nidhiki with a frown. He pushed himself off his throne, rising to a terrifying height. He grabbed a metal staff that was leaning against the back of the throne, he lifted it; then proceeded to walk towards Turo very slowly, supporting his immense bulk on his staff. Turo and Kaida watched him as their trepidation turned into confusion; confusion in seeing a massive super soldier using what looked like a walking stick. He then took his staff up in both hands and quicker than anyone could react; he swung it into Turo's head. Turo was knocked to the ground, unconscious from the impact. Nidhiki then turned to aim the staff at Kaida; energy flickered along it, lighting the room in furious flashes of purple and white. The energy extended from the staff and struck her chest.

The sensation it gave was incredible, it did not hurt; it was a feathery tingling that crawled all over her body.

"You are not so hard to read, alien." said the sorcerer. Kaida was trapped by the force of the staff, she couldn't move no matter how hard she tried. The sensation was growing and seemed to move around her body like a living creature. "You value your own life above the ethereal's..." Nidhiki relaxed his staff. It still had energy flowing through it, and Kaida was feeling its touch. "Individuality and independence are rare amongst your species, but you..."

The sensation from the staff slithered around Kaida's body to her crotch; it stopped moving, like it had found what it was looking for. It slid up and down, tickling and massaging. The sensations Kaida was experiencing from the psychic power were increasing, she closed her eyes and took in the feeling, it was all she could do. The cloak dropped from her shoulders and she absorbed herself in the sensual pleasures that were taking over her body. She had never experienced such a rush, no way could sexual pleasure be this good, it was amazing, it was exciting, and it was perfect. She let out a small whimper of ecstasy, as she was oblivious to the two on looking space marines, it was just so wonderful.

"You are enjoying this," said Nidhiki, Kaida still had her eyes closed, but his voice was unmistakable.

"She's had enough, my lord," said Reptile.

"Enough?" questioned Nidhiki, but he didn't give Reptile time to reply, "I think she could use more."

"My lord, do not harm her," said Reptile starting to plead.

The sorcerer gave reptile a searching stare "... and I won't." He gave a casual hand gesture towards Kaida. "You have your own plans for her; so I won't use her up before you."

The sensation slowed and faded into nothing, Kaida opened her eyes and found herself on the floor with her hand in her trousers. She pulled it out immediately and checked her clothes before grabbing her cloak from the floor to hide her shame. She took deep breaths and tried to blank the whole experience from her mind.

"Get up, Kaida," ordered Reptile, she stood up and shuffled round to put Reptile between herself and the massive sorcerer. "You wanted to talk to _me_ , my lord?" asked Reptile, Kaida could tell just by his tone of voice that he did not want to be there any more than she did.

"I did, the handmaidens were concerned about your plans, and I have to say that I shared their apprehension." Reptile just looked on, into Nidhiki's face, waiting for him to continue; maybe Nidhiki was expecting a response, he didn't get one. "Now we've seen everything. I'm happy to let you continue your plans with these tau; and I know the handmaidens' opinions will have changed as well."

"I am glad to hear that, my lord," Reptile said with relief "May we leave?"

"You can leave," said Nidhiki.

Reptile glanced over at Turo lying out cold on the floor, "What about him?"

"He belongs to Brutaka, does he not?"

"He does," answered Reptile.

"Then he can do with him as he wills," said Nidhiki, "he will be waiting outside the door; tell him to come and get his tau."

Reptile presented his hand to Kaida, she held on, Reptile's soft grip was a comfort in the presence of the hulking sorcerer.

They left the room, hand in hand, Brutaka was indeed waiting outside the door. Reptile relayed the sorcerer's order and Brutaka entered Nidhiki's chamber. Reptile led Kaida further along the hallway, "Are you hurt?" he asked.

She didn't feel any physical pain, as the tiny breaks in the skin of her scalp had all but been forgotten, "I don't think so," she stuttered; she couldn't help but wonder if her mind was left in as good a state.

"Good," said Reptile with relief.


	6. Part 1: Chapter 6

Reptile and Kaida reached a big set of double doors at the end of the hallway. Reptile pushed them open to reveal a grand hall. There were intricately decorated long tables around the hall, each with big, ornate, metal chairs placed around them. Tall thin windows ran up nearly the whole height of the walls around the room, they had the look of stained glass that beautifully illustrated some majestic battle scene, grand triumph or a strange monster. Reptile led Kaida to sit at one of the tables; he pulled a chair back for her, and he sat on another, next to her. The chairs were big and designed for the long legs of space marines; Kaida's feet didn't even touch the floor.

"This is our banquet hall," he said. "We will sit down together to celebrate our victories with a grand meal." Kaida looked around at the tables; they each had about enough seats for a team of space marines to sit at, maybe each squad had its own table.

"Do you think this place is fitting for great warriors like us?" he asked.

Kaida thought about the great warriors that had sat around this table, Reptile's squad no doubt; the 'great warriors' that killed her team. "It's very impressive," she muttered, not giving Reptile a full answer.

Reptile let out a sigh and laid a hand on Kaida's shoulder, "Nidhiki was cruel to you; he should not have let you experience the Warp so soon."

Kaida didn't look at Reptile, she only thought about the experience the sorcerer had forced upon her. She felt like her body had been violated, and she shed a tear for the innocence she once held on to. At the same time though, she felt as though the entirety of reality, of all realities, had been opened up to her; she almost thought herself privileged.

"You must have many questions," said Reptile.

"Who were the other tau?"

"Other tau?" wondered Reptile out loud.

"The tau around Nidhiki's throne; who were they?" she clarified.

A brief moment of pondering passed, "Yes, I know who you are talking about." Reptile leaned close and whispered, "They were not normal tau, were they? They were beautiful and too perfect to be real, am I right?"

Kaida didn't reply, but he already knew the answer she would give.

"When they looked at you, did they disturb you, and reach into your very soul?" He still didn't need a reply from her, he just moved back and spoke, "They were not Tau at all, they appear to you as your most bestial and carnal desires. They are the handmaidens of Slaanesh."

This wasn't surprising; she knew they were not tau. "Hand maidens? Are they servants?" she pondered.

"In a way," explained Reptile, "but we are all servants to Slaanesh in a way."

Kaida had more to ask, "You said Nidhiki was very old. How old is he?"

"He is more than ten thousand Terran years old." replied Reptile.

Kaida's mind boggled at the thought. To be so old and to have seen so much must be an incredible thing; an incredible thing that she could not even dream of. "That's unbelievable," she said.

"Is it?" replied Reptile, "Astartes are so much more than mortal. We would live forever, but for the irony of the astartes."

"What Irony?"

"That we will never die of old age, and yet we live our entire lives in battle. In truth, very few loyalist astartes warriors live to four hundred years."

It was a sad thought, potentially limitless lives being cut short by the very purpose they were created for. "How old are you?" asked Kaida, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I am four hundred and fifty years old, and I have spent about two hundred and fifty years as a part of this chapter." He explained, "Those loyal to the God-Emperor do not get the luxury of choosing battles they will win; as a free chapter, we get that privilege."

"You were a part of another chapter?"

"Yes," said Reptile with a smile, "but that was a long time ago. I wish to change the topic of this conversation, as I fear I am going to end up boring you with my life story." Kaida thought the life story of a space marine might be one worth hearing, but she didn't stop him. "I want to know more about you," he said "So let's reverse the question you gave me. How old are you?"

Kaida was sure that Reptile didn't know tau time keeping so Kaida did a rough conversion in her head. "I think I'm fourteen Terran years old."

"So young!" commented Repile. "Is that a normal age for a tau warrior?"

"Yes," said Kaida, "We mature faster than humans."

"We must seem ancient to you," said Reptile. "I wonder, do you have a partner, or a mate?"

Kaida was again nervous about where Reptile was taking this, but she decided that it would make no difference either way whether she told Reptile the truth or not. "I do not have a partner. We don't have time for romance when we are out on campaign."

"And what does tau romance entail?"

"Well... uh... you..." the young tau struggled to find the right answer for the question, "I mean... we just..."

"Forget I asked," smiled Reptile, "Would you join us here for dinner later on? It will be a great banquet and the best food will be served."

"Is that human romance?" asked Kaida.

"Not at all; this table will be surrounded by the battle brothers of my unit, but I would be very pleased if you would join us."

To be dining at the table of the ones who defeated her in battle, not many could say that they have done that; but she was warming to Reptile. The fear and loathing that she had once felt towards him was gone. She was starting to feel a bit of affection for the super human. Whatever happened she needed to be fed, she hadn't eaten since before the battle and was very hungry.

"If you don't dine with us then you will eat with the slaves down below," explained Reptile.

She thought it would be better if she distanced herself from the human slaves. Not because she was scared of them any more than the marines, but because if she associated with them she might be considered to be on the same level by others on the ship. It was best to stay on as high a standing as possible with the marines, especially Reptile. "I'll sit with you," she replied.

"Wonderful" commented Reptile. "I know tau diets are not too different to human diets, so you should be able to enjoy everything on offer, and don't worry about not being able to eat as much as us. There are ways to enjoy all the excesses, even beyond the point that our bodies would have us stop."

* * *

Reptile took Kaida down to the bowels of the ship, to a small room, it was a medical room of some kind. There were vials and syringes adorning shelves all around the walls of the dark and dreary place. The one "bed" held a body that was covered by a sheet. The same size as a human, Kaida wondered if this was how they treated their dead slaves. A marine was standing next to the bed, he had no helmet on and Kaida could see madness in his eyes. He had a wide eyed stare that never blinked and a grin that never faded, constantly fixed on Kaida; no matter where she moved his stare followed, never blinking.

"Good day, Jeguda," said Reptile. Jeguda was a name that Kaida remembered; he was mentioned as being given the fourth prisoner, the fire warrior with the injured arm.

"Yes," replied the space marine, "it is a very good day." He was shaking with excitement, "A very, very, very, VERY good day. First I was given an exquisite gift in the form of a member of the tau species. It was a little bit damaged but I fixed that problem." Jeguda looked down at Kaida again, relishing whatever strange act he was envisioning. "Now you, one of the most elegant and beautiful of all the astartes on this vessel bring me another example of the Tau species that eclipses the one I already have in my possession." He bit his lip in excitement, drawing a small amount of blood.

"I'm glad you like her," said Reptile, "but she is mine."

The grin did not fade from Jeguda's face, he just turned his gaze fully on Reptile, "Then you must be here to see what I have done with my tau."

"I had a feeling you would do something remarkable," replied Reptile.

"Quite remarkable," said Jeguda. He stood at one end of the bed with his hands on the sheet, ready to pull it away to reveal what was underneath. "I am very proud of this." Jeguda gave the sheet a tug to unveil what was underneath; a tangle of blue meat and black metallic tubes and pipes interwoven in a display of seamless surgeons' craft. It took a moment for Kaida to realise that what she was looking at was the remains of the fire warrior. Eyes wide, she inhaled sharply and covered her mouth. His arms were gone, and the gaps where they should be were sealed. A complex array of wires and pipes that were intruding into different places on his torso, his head and around his neck connected him to a twisted engine situated underneath the table on which he was laid. The fire warrior's eyes were closed, but not as if dead, his naked, breathless and still body gave the impression that he was sleeping.

"Is he alive?" asked Kaida, stunned and fixed on the sight of one of her kind in such a disfigured state.

"Oh, yes, quite alive, young tau," said Jeguda, "Quite alive." Jeguda hopped round to the opposite side of the table and reached down to the machine under the fire warrior.

Without warning the fire warrior violently convulsed into life, he arched his back and appeared to scream, but his scream was not of a living thing. The engine was forcing it's sounds though the body of the fire warrior, as the pitch and the tone of the sound changed, so too did the angle of the tau's writhing and the expression of pain that was stretched across his face; twisted and contorted as if the sound that was coming out of him was physically grinding at his senses.

Kaida held her hands up to her head to block out the noise, it was piercing and painful, she could feel the warped vibrations writhe in the air around her. The intricate details that were interwoven into the misshapen noise were elaborately crafted; and with each new note and pitch that was sent through the tau, and each new position of exquisite agony there was the evidence of a true artist. And then, there was no noise, he and the machine were silent and still; as if the machine commanded the tau to stop.

"Very good!" said Reptile with a smile. "I'm impressed."

"Thank you," replied Jeguda, "I could do the same for your friend, if you like."

Kaida moved behind Reptile a little, seeking comfort.

"I appreciate your work, Jeguda, I really do," insisted Reptile, "but Kaida has more ahead of her."

Kaida had her eyes fixed on the mutilated fire warrior, thinking of the pain he might be in, or if he was asleep, what mad and warped dreams he may be experiencing. "Why did you do this?" she murmured, not really aiming her question at anyone, or even expecting an answer.

Jeguda was taken aback by the very notion of the question. "Did you not hear the glorious, wondrous sound I have created?"

Reptile understood the distress Kaida might be feeling, he knelt down, close to her eye level and asked, "Was he your friend?"

Kaida didn't know him, the only experience she had with him was when they met briefly in the cabin, "I didn't even know his name."

"How can you care so much for someone that you don't even know?" asked Reptile.

"I just..." Kaida thought back, this fire warrior had asked why she had no battle scars, no wounds from battle, he was questioning her honour. He had no idea what she went through and he has the nerve to question it, just because he received a small battle wound. Kaida couldn't justify her concern for the warrior.

Reptile stood up again and said to Jeguda, "Don't keep it too long."

"Why?" came the reply, "are you enjoying the company of these aliens too much?"

Reptile glanced down at Kaida briefly, "You could say that. But you will get bored of the sound eventually, Jeguda, and there is no need to keep it around if you're not using it."

* * *

Leaving Jeguda's room, Reptile remained quiet, as they walked up the halway, hand in hand. Kaida had become accustomed to holding on to Reptile, and just accepted it. Reptile was a known quantity, she was more familiar with him than anyone else on the ship, and she felt safe. The strong astartes warrior acted as her guardian, and she was assured that if anything were to happen, Reptile would protect her.

"How do you feel about what you just saw?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Kaida.

"No?"

"I thought I felt pity for him," she lowered her volume, "at first..." she paused in her answer, as if she was ashamed of what she was going to say.

"Enjoying the sound that was created does not make you a traitor to your species." Kaida looked up at him. "It shows that your mind can break through the taboos that are set into your brain by the society of your upbringing. Enjoying the sound shows that you have a free mind, capable of enjoying the most extreme of artwork presented to you, no matter what was used to create it."

"That's not it," said Kaida.

"Then what?"

"I'm worried that my pity turned into feelings of hatred; for the fire warrior I mean."

"I see, did you have a history with this fire warrior?"

"No, I mean, not really. He only ever said one thing to me; he believed I was a coward."

Reptile stopped and kneeled down to her, he could see that there was self doubt in her eyes. "I would never consider you a coward, Kaida. I saw the way you fought until there was no point in fighting any more, and I have been witness to how your soul is embracing an entirely new fate; that takes great bravery indeed."

Kaida was very puzzled by what Reptile was saying, "What do you mean?"

"You will see, Kaida."


	7. Part 1: Chapter 7

Reptile led Kaida back to the banquet hall; most of the tables were occupied by different space marine teams. Soft and beautiful music played by plucked strings wafted through the air, adding a serene atmosphere to the occasion. Kaida felt more at ease here than she had done in any of the other rooms during her stay.

The table the two of them were sitting at beforehand was occupied by ten marines; Kaida had no doubt that these were the marines Kaida was fighting in the battle. There were two empty seats at the table, one at the head, presumably for Reptile; the other empty seat was between two other marines.

"This is my squad," said Reptile. He led Kaida by the hand to the seat between two of them and moved the chair out for her, only to push her up to the table when she was seated; there was an empty plate set on the table in front of her with a knife and fork laid either side of it. "This is Narcius," reptile indicated by placing a hand on the shoulder of the marine to her left, "and this is brother Rubex," the marine on Kaida's right. "They are good company; do not be worried about talking with them." Reptile left her and went to sit at the head of the table.

Kaida kept to herself at first, she didn't want to disturb the marines, they looked like they were already in conversations with their brothers; both Narcius and Rubex faced away from her. They must think very little of a small tau warrior like herself.

She overheard the conversation Rubex was having. "I loved what you were playing on the battlefield," said the other marine. "Is there any chance of having a private rendition?"

Rubex took a sip of wine from his goblet and said "I play my music for me, I don't play my music to entertain people. I play my music because I am my music."

"I loved what I heard, brother," said the other Marine, "and I would love to hear more of it."

"I play my music for me, I can do what I do by myself."

The other marine looked disappointed, "then perhaps you will accompany me to my chamber, you can give me your verdict on my own composition."

"Show it to me," said Rubex.

Without hesitation Rubex and the other marine pushed their chairs away from the table and left the hall. Kaida then turned to listen in on the conversation Narcius was having with the marine beside him.

"Squad Esskrimar are talking about that time we had together with the eldar," said the other marine.

"Good memories, brother," was the metallic sounding response from Narcius. His voice sounded familiar, she remembered the harsh metallic tones from after the battle, but she thought the distortion came from his helmet. Kaida wondered why he sounded like that, she could however only see him from the back and hadn't saught sight of his face.

Kaida's curiosity got the better of her, "You fought with the eldar?"

Narcius turned around to face Kaida his appearance nearly made Kaida move back in repulsion, his mouth, nose and much of his lower face were gone and replaced by a black and silver speaker. He said to her, "We've fought against eldar."

The other marine looked over Narcius' shoulder to catch sight of the tau before saying, "We don't really get on with the eldar. For some reason they don't like Slaanesh." He sounded sarcastic.

"Why don't they like Slaanesh?" asked Kaida no knowing the history of Slaanesh and the eldar. The marines would probably consider this common knowledge.

"That is a history lesson for another time, young tau," said Narcius before turning back to his friend to continue his conversation.

Kaida felt as though it was her task to talk to someone, so she made the statement, "We fought beside eldar once." This got Narcius' attention; he turned to face her again. "They helped our cadre fight the orks," she finished.

"You know there are eldar that do not live in craftworlds?" asked Narcius.

"There are some that have settled on planets, I know that," she said.

"I don't mean them; I mean the webway eldar."

"What's a webway Eldar?"

"I don't care to get into details; but behind every eldar in the galaxy is a dark, blood crazed psychopath who thinks nothing more of its victims than tools to use; and they have nothing but hate for our kind."

"They hate astartes?" she asked.

"They hate the followers of Slaanesh."

Narcius turned back to his friend; he had no interest in talking to Kaida and as there was no one on the other side of her she looked around the hall to see all the different space marine squads. Not many of them had what she would consider a normal human face; most of them had altered their appearance in some way; some of them were covered in elaborate tattoos, some had horns, and some had parts of their head replaced by some kind of bionic implant. She spotted Turo in the company of another space marine squad; he couldn't talk to them but he had more attention on him than Kaida did. Most of the marines were still in their armour, and she realised something, every set of armour was different for every marine; they had personalised it with patterns painted onto it or crafted gold reliefs seamlessly blended into the construction.

This was in stark contrast to the tau army; every member of the Fire Caste wore a strict uniform. There was no individuality at all; indeed it was quite hard to tell who was who once full battle gear was equipped.

She noticed the slave playing the music, it was a woman, she slowly swayed her head from side to side to keep perfect rhythm with the music; she was a masterful player of the harp, every string that was plucked was done so with such delicacy and poise, that it looked as though her hands were merely floating across the strings.

She spotted the food for the banquet being brought by slaves, followed by more slaves carrying jugs for the accompanying wine.

The slaves came to her table and placed different dishes of extravagantly prepared food along its middle. The food looked beautiful, it was clear that someone had spent a lot of time preparing it. Even the prepared animals looked like a delight; Kaida had never eaten much meat in her life time, but she could feel her mouth salivating at the thought of tucking into what lay before her. She didn't want to get any unwanted attention from the marines, so she didn't reach to put anything on her plate until one of them did so first. The slaves poured the jugs of what looked like wine into the goblets that accompanied each plate.

Reptile walked round to Rubex's empty seat. "I see that you're having trouble making conversation." He then pulled the seat out and sat beside her. "This is better than your usual rations, I assume."

"I don't know where to start," she said.

Reptile proceeded to tell her all the parts of the feast that would go together the best, and used his far greater reach to get her all that was on offer; he then filled his own plate. Kaida looked at what was in front of her now; there was no way she could eat it all, and she really didn't want to leave anything on the plate, in case someone took it as an insult. She started eating and it was incredible; everything was cooked to perfection. Being a member of the fire caste, fine dining was not something she was used to; and how to cook such extravagant food was as much a mystery to her as the warp itself.

"Do you like it?" asked Reptile.

"It's perfect," said Kaida as a juicy bit of meat melted into flavour in her mouth.

"This is what we eat when there is cause to celebrate," he explained, "and we achieved a fine victory over the Tau Empire. Your people fight well and we lost some of our dearest battle brothers."

Reptile looked around and saw that Rubex and his friend were coming back to the table. He approached and said, "You are in my seat, Reptile."

"You can take mine," Reptile replied.

"I do not want to sit in your seat, brother, I wish to sit with Kasadus."

"Very well, I will move," and reptile got up and whispered in Kaida's ear, "eat up, there is one more thing that I need to show you." He then went back to the head of the table.

Kaida continued eating; none of the marines were talking to her and she felt more and more like she wasn't wanted. An idea started growing in her head as to why none of the marines were interested in her, so she had to investigate. "Whose seat am I in?" she asked to anyone who would be willing to answer.

A marine sitting opposite her gave a reply, "That seat once belonged to Eligos." The marine spoke with bitterness.

"Was he a great warrior?" asked Kaida hoping to seem as respectful as she could.

"He was an artist on the field of battle and he had left a four thousand year tapestry of exquisite devotion to the Prince of Pleasure. And now you sit where he once did, as if you are our equal."

"Your squad leader put me here," said Kaida, trying to defend herself.

"He did," said the marine, "Reptile is as fine a champion any of us could ask for, but he is young. Just because we will follow him into battle, does not mean we need to like everything he does."

Rubex turned to Kaida and said to her, "You are a beautiful little being, tau, but Eligos was a testament to the beauty Slaanesh bestows on his most devoted followers."

Kaida didn't know what to say, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Rubex looked away for a moment, and then looked back at Kaida with a smile on his face, long black hair whipping round as he turned. "Have you enjoyed your stay on our ship?" He didn't leave time for Kaida to think about an answer, "you have spent your time with Reptile have you not? And you have shared things?" Rubex's smile grew wider, "All the time you have spent together, have you ever considered why he is called 'Reptile'?"

Kaida never thought about it before, she guessed 'Reptile' was a normal Gothic name.

"It's a rather strange name for an astartes, don't you think? Shall I tell you the reason behind it?"

Kaida nodded.

"Then allow me to illuminate you," said Rubex, "We were fighting webway eldar; all had been killed or routed, except for the archon and his bodyguards."

"I remember it well," said the pale marine beside Rubex, "Doped up on drugs, believing themselves invulnerable; they marched into a massacre."

"Yes," said Rubex. "They had been defeated except for the archon and his sslyth bodyguards. The sslyth had decided that the pitiful tactical direction of the archon had not been to their satisfaction; so they killed him right there on the battlefield. Knowing that they would not win the fight against us, they surrendered. Reptile, who was then..."

"That's enough," interrupted Reptile from across the table, "that tale is not yours to share."

"Apologies, brother," commented Rubex, "I did not realise you did not want it told."

"It does not need to be told," said Reptile.

Rubex let out a dejected sigh and turned from Kaida. She then looked around to Narcius who had removed his speaker and was putting food through the gap and into a maw of vertically aligned teeth. She turned back to Rubex, being the only marine to show real interest in talking to her, "So is Reptile not the oldest marine in the unit?" she asked, "In the fire caste, the veterans are always the ones to lead the teams."

"No," replied Rubex, "Some of us are thousands of years old, but Reptile has had plenty of battle experience. You could say that we are all qualified to lead the team; we just decided that he was better suited to the task."

The pale marine beside Rubex spoke, "I have eaten too much beforehand, my love; I will be back soon to continue the feast." Rubex turned and gave the pale marine a kiss before letting him leave the banquet hall.

She continued eating and drinking with Rubex, they talked about the tau, their customs and how they differ from what she had seen on the ship. She then heard a familiar whisper in her ear, "It's time for you and I to leave the banquet," she looked round to see Reptile standing behind her.

Rubex turned round to speak to him "Brother Reptile, may I apologise for my earlier insistence that I sit here. Your tau friend is a delight; I can see why you would want to be with her."

"No offence taken," said Reptile. "I know how close you are to Kasadus."

"And I'm sorry for sharing the story of you and the sslyth. It wasn't my place."

"Let it be off your conscience, brother, no harm has come of it."

"Then may I request something from you, if it is not too much trouble."

"What is it?" asked Reptile, puzzled.

"A kiss," said Rubex. "Not from you of course, I've felt the warmth of an astartes too much in my life time. I ask for a kiss from your gorgeous tau friend."

Reptile looked at the tau and said, "It's up to you, Kaida."

"Kaida," said Rubex softly, while looking into her eyes, "Just a small token of appreciation, a leaving gift, for me to remember your company by."

Rubex had given her his time in the form of conversation when the marines around her had dismissed her. In the end, he had made her feel welcome. She got up to her knees to reach the cheek of the astartes and simply pecked it with her lips pursed. His skin was rough, dry, and cold.

As she moved away, he gave her a warm smile "I hope this is only the start of a wonderful relationship."  
She quickly showed an awkward smile of her own before climbing out of her chair and leaving the hall hand in hand with Reptile; Rubex's eyes following until they were gone.


	8. Part 1: Chapter 8

"Where are we going?" asked Kaida.

Reptile said nothing to her; 'is he annoyed at me for giving Rubex a kiss?' she wondered, but soon determined that it was a silly thing to consider, a space marine wouldn't care about such things.

This walk seemed longer than the other walks they had taken together in the ship, like all her time on the ship had been building up to this moment. They walked until they came to a cabin door with Esskrimar standing outside it. "Why are you not enjoying the feast?" asked Reptile, "Your squad is missing your company."

"There are many feasts on this ship, Reptile, but this is going to be unique." Esskrimar replied with a smile.

"It's good to see you have your pistol," remarked Reptile, "I trust there is not too much damage."

"I applied the usual, delicacy and care that I always do, dear brother," said Esskrimar, his smile growing, Reptile smiled as well.

Reptile opened the door to the room and led Kaida inside. Inside slumped against the side of the bed was the thin naked body of a tau. It was Aun'Esa, she was covered in cuts and bruises and draped over the side of the bed like some discarded rag. Kaida covered her mouth in shock and felt a lump grow in her throat, such was the shock of seeing her immortally wise leader is such a way.

The two space marines watched on as the ethereal slowly raised her head to look at Kaida. "This is your symbol for the greater good," said Reptile, "frail and weak."

Aun'Esa took a deep breath and began to speak in tau, "These are followers of chaos; they have no honour and deserve nothing more from us than hate." Aun'Esa looked up at the marines, "The only way we can further the greater good is to kill them all."

Reptile raised his eyebrows and asked Kaida, "Do you believe her?" Reptile understood fully what the ethereal said; but he continued to speak in gothic. "Is the greater good a worthy cause for you to lay your life down? If you think so, your gun is on the bed; take it and shoot me, I am unarmoured, and would surely be killed." Kaida's gun from the battle was indeed on the bed, she had been so fixated on Aun'Esa's apparent suffering that she had failed to notice. Kaida grabbed the pulse carbine and pointed the gun directly at Reptile's chest. Teeth gritted and tears running down her face; she did not kill him.

"The greater good is a lie, can't you see." explained Reptile. "It claims to promise peace and prosperity for all who accept it; but what it offers you in reality is a bleak future of servitude and war, and all for nothing but the pride of the Ethereal Caste."

"No!" spluttered the ethereal, mustering enough strength to raise her voice. "The cause of the greater good is right and just, these marines use slaves and know nothing of justice and equality."

"Those slaves were raised in imperial hive cities; their lives are better now than they ever have been, as is everyone's life on this ship that has known a previous existence."

"Shoot them! Pathfinder," cried Aun'esa, "do not hesitate, shoot them, now!"

"That's very aggressive," commented Esskrimar, he had his hand resting on the bolt pistol by his side.

"If you shoot me now, we both die and all your greater good will have accomplished is two more corpses."

"Don't listen to the marines, pathfinder," argued the ethereal, "They are poisoning your mind. You need to kill them."

"Pathfinder?" queried Reptile, "You have great respect from your warriors, ethereal, they must be close to you," Aun'esa did not reply, she only glared at Reptile, as a hated enemy. "Why is it that you do not know their names?"

Kaida couldn't believe it, all the times Aun'Esa sent her into battle; when they were being held captive together, when she took Kaida's warmth away, never had she wanted to know Kaida's name. 'She doesn't care about me,' thought Kaida, 'she never did.'

"Shoot them! Now! I am your commander and you will obey my order!" were more painfully forced words from the ethereal; but Kaida lowered her gun. "What are you doing?" panicked the ethereal, "Do not ignore me, pathfinder!"

Kaida lifted her gun above her head and brought it slamming down on the Ethereal's broken body with a scream of rage. She could feel the crunch of bone under her gun, as Aun'Esa fell from the bed and was now sprawled on the floor. Kaida lifted her gun up and slammed it onto the ethereal's body again; a gasp of pain was heard seeping out from Aun'Esa's bloodied lips. Kaida lifted the gun once more and smashed it into the ethereal's head. There was no more movement, no more life; the pathfinder had killed the ethereal.

"What have I done?" exclaimed Kaida, trembling. The fiery rage she felt not a moment ago turned into mournful regret that built up in her throat quicker than any emotion she had ever felt before.

"You have freed yourself," claimed Reptile.

Kaida lifted her gun and pointed it at Reptile once more.

"Do not fight me, Kaida," he said with a smile. "If you come with me now you can be a part of something wonderful; you can join us and find the greatest pleasures you can imagine, even some that are beyond mortal comprehension. The ethereals used you and made you slaves to a cause you cannot hope to achieve; we have simple goals and a god who demands nothing more from us than to praise him with the wildest of excesses. Lay down your gun, do not fight me, embrace me," he dropped to one knee and held his arms out wide, "and we will embrace you as a member of our family."

Kaida, undone by tears, dropped her gun and walked arms wide into the warm embrace of the marine. "You will grow with Slaanesh," whispered Reptile, "and she will reward you with your heart's greatest desires."

* * *

Reptile then lifted Kaida in his arms and carried her to his cabin, where he set her on the bed before closing the door to leave them alone together.

"That was very brave," said Reptile, "I can only imagine what it must be like for you."

"It was horrible," whimpered Kaida, she looked up at Reptile with a nervous smile, "but it's all over now. There are no more lies."

"There will always be lies, Kaida," explained Reptile, "the galaxy is full of lies, but chaos is truth. It is the one constant that will always be a fact and will always be the outcome. It's not something to be resisted; by giving ourselves to chaos we are devoting ourselves to the one cause that will always prevail."

Kaida looked at Reptile and spoke her mind, "That's not the whole reason for your devotion to Slaanesh, is it?"

"You're right," conceded Reptile with a smile, "the personal rewards are quite exquisite."

Kaida's mind was awash with thoughts of the death of Aun'Esa, of discarding the Tau Empire completely. She felt like she had been given a new life, the ethereal was dead and she was free to strive for whatever she wanted, she was free to pursue whatever her heart desired. There was only one way to start this new life, by cementing her relationship with the one who had led the way. She began to undress for him, she pulled her boots off, then her top.

Reptile knew exactly what she was doing; he sat on the bed beside her and pulled her vest over her head. Kaida watched and felt Reptile's hands and eyes wonder all over her torso, and revelled in the moment before pulling off her trousers, then sliding her shorts down her legs for Reptile to pluck them from her foot and leave the tau totally exposed. Reptile stood up and lifted his entire robe off his body to reveal the full muscular magnificence that Kaida had seen before.

Reptile sat on the bed again, Kaida reached out to him, he took her hand, she then leapt onto him; and the pleasures of Slaanesh were felt to their fullest.

* * *

"Will you be a part of our ship and an associate of this chapter?" asked Reptile to a naked Kaida sitting on the floor.

"Yes," she panted, still getting her breath back, "with all my heart, yes."

"Will you fight with us?"

"I will," said Kaida.

Reptile sat on the floor beside her and held out his hand to reveal a small, gold trinket, a symbol of some kind made of gold and intricately detailed with patterns and tiny jewels. It was attached to a loop of silver chain so fine that Kaida felt she would break it if she was to handle it. He slipped it round her neck and told her, "This is the icon of Slaanesh, wear it always as a symbol of your devotion to him, and our chapter."

"I will," she said, she ran her fingers over the icon around her neck, the fine craftsmanship was obvious.

Kaida Gazed into Reptiles eyes, the one who opened her mind, the one who set her free and the man who saved her, "Let's go again, I want more of Slaanesh's pleasures."


	9. Part 1: Chapter 9

Turo slammed his fist down against his adversary, smashing into opponent's chest squeezing air out of his lungs, the flesh rippling around the impact and the pain it caused, turo could feel all of it. He then took a backhanded slap to the side of his face, momentarily distorting his features, bouncing back into shape only for his face to receive another smash. Turo grabbed his opponent by the shoulders and pulled him over forwards. Turo thrust his knee up into the gut of his adversary; the feeling of the soft flesh connecting with the hard bone of his knee was satisfying to the extreme. Turo raised his knee again but his opponent grabbed his other foot and pulled it up, forcing both of them to the ground. The human was on top of Turo and now had him pinned. Turo tried to push him off but the human knocked his hands away and drove his fist into the Tau's face. Turo's head recoiled back and hit the floor. Dazed for a moment he regained his senses and held his arms in the air. The fight was over.

"Good fight," panted Turo, as he was helped to his feet by the human, he had picked up a little bit of Gothic, but was far from fluent.

The human held him by the shoulders, gave him a warm smile, and then pulled him close to embrace him as one of their own.

* * *

It had been two weeks since her capture, and the feelings of being a prisoner were long gone. She had free reign to go where ever she wanted on the ship. It could be said that she had more freedom than many of the humans on the ship; not many humans were free to mingle with the Astartes. She had taken to wearing a dress that exposed her right breast, it became more natural that as she became more and more in tune with Slaanesh that she began to dress in a way that would suit one of his followers.

"There is something I want to see," she told Reptile one evening.

"What is it you would like to see, Kaida?" replied Reptile.

"I've heard human ships have psychic pilots, I'd like to see that."

"You mean the navigator?" Reptile looked confused, "But there is not much to see."

"But it would be a nice distraction," she argued.

* * *

Reptile led Kaida up to the top level of the ship, this must be where the bridge of the ship would be.

"In here," he said as he pushed open one of the doors to reveal a very dark room.

"But no one's in here," she said.

Reptile flicked a switch on the wall and the 'pilot' was revealed to her.

It was a human brain and spine that had been wired into a massive life support machine. There were regular twitches from the remains, as if it was being jolted into life by the machinery wired into it.

"This is Diodora," said Reptile, "The navigator of the Mourning Maiden, and her oldest crew member."

Kaida didn't know what to say, she was expecting a living person, not some remains of what used to be a person.

Reptile moved over to a screen in the wall, "This is how we talk to her, but we don't need to talk to her unless we make a journey."

"There is some text on the screen," Kaida said, "What is she saying?" She thought that if someone was to be in such a state for so long, she must have nothing but sorrow to express.

Reptile moved closer to take a look for himself, "She says that there is another ship that wishes to contact us. She's been contacted by another psyker through the warp!"

"What do you mean?"

"They are allies, and they are asking for our help," explained Reptile with a smile, "we must go and do what we can to aid them."

* * *

End of Part 1


	10. Part 2: Chapter 10

3rd company of the Silver Griffons Space Marine Chapter. Eternally in service to the Emperor of Mankind and the Imperium of Man.

* * *

Brother Gechorus sat in his cabin and polished his armour. Gazing into the eyes of his helmet he considered the weight of what it meant to have been entrusted with it; terminator armour was not a commodity that was sparingly handed out and he looked on it with pride. He was anticipating the next time he would have to don its protection and relished the opportunity to represent the Emperor's wrath. To be a space marine was to be humanity's finest and to be one of only five terminators in the company was to be the best of the best.

There was tapping at the door, who would knock on the cabin of a space marine? Gechorus set his helmet down on the bed beside him, and rose to open the door.

Standing outside was a woman, a pretty thing, she was wearing a plain green outfit, similar to the fatigues guardsmen would wear, but with none of the combat gear or imperial iconography. She carried a book, clutched against her chest, as if it was some form of comfort to her in an unfamiliar place.

"Hello," she said in a timid and shaky voice, "I am writing an account of the space marines on this campaign and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

"A writer?" wondered Gechorus out loud, "Do you have permission to be here?"

"I do," said the woman, she flicked the corners of her book until she found the document she wanted; she then showed it to the space marine. "It has all the required seals, this is perfectly legal, don't worry."

Gechorus was still suspicious, in all his time in the chapter he had never heard of any form of documentarist being allowed with the Astartes themselves, and he hadn't heard anything of this meeting beforehand.

"You don't have to let me in," said the writer, "if you don't want to take part, I can just move on, it's totally up to you."

Gechorus handed back her stamped document and asked, "What is this for?"

"It's writing for the masses," she said with a smile, "I want to make the space marines look more heroic by giving the people a more intimate view of how they operate."

Gechorus opened his cabin door wide, inviting her in. There are not many items of comfort in a space marine's cabin and Gechorus had to indicate to her that she could sit on the bed, and she did. She sat cross legged at the foot of the bed, she was careful not to touch anything in the room, like the massive terminator armour that was arranged on the floor, and she kept her distance from the helmet on the bed, for fear of disturbing any sacred rituals she might be interrupting. She bounced up and down slightly to get herself comfortable, but seemed disappointed by the hardness of the mattress.

Gechorus sat on the bed where he was polishing his armour earlier.

"I'm sorry," said the writer, "I never said who I was; my name is Xilthara," she held her hand out to shake the space marine's.

"I have never heard that name before, where are you from?" asked Gechorus, ignoring the handshake.

"It's an unusual name, I know," said Xilthara with a smile, "my mother comes from Salidaris, and she wanted to give me a name from her home land."

Gechorus barely acknowledged her reply; he lifted his helmet from his side and continued to inspect it.

"And your name is?" she coaxed, tentatively.

"Gechorus."

"OK, Gechorus." Xilthara opened her book, took a pen from her pocket and began writing. "I see you wear terminator armour," she said, craning her neck round to see if she could get a better view of the space marine's face. "How did you receive the right to wear it into battle? No doubt through some heroic act in service to the Emperor."

"I earned the honour of wearing terminator armour through experience; for five hundred years, I have served the Emperor in war, I have been entrusted with this armour as a sign of my devotion and my combat prowess." Xilthara smiled on, nodding slightly to encourage him to divulge more. "There was no single act of heroism that elevated me within the chapter, no one story to tell."

"Can you tell me a little more about yourself?" she asked.

Gechorus looked at her, "What do you want to know? You already know that I am part of the Silver Griffons' Third Company, what else is there?"

"Where are you from?" asked Xilthara, "You weren't always a space marine."

"I come from Theadosis, like all other Silver Griffons," he explained, "I was a fine warrior in my youth and I was chosen to become a space marine. My story through the chapter is the same as any other Astartes here, we all went through the same trials and training, most of us went on the same missions, and we all had the same experiences."

"How do you feel about where we are going? We are in warp travel now, is it like any other mission? Does it feel any different?"

"No," said the space marine simply, "We have been called out to face an Ork problem. It's a mission like any other."

"Do you ever get nervous before a mission? I would get nervous if I had to go and fight all the time."

"I have been waging war for five hundred years," said Gechorus, "and I know no fear."

Gechorus kept answering her questions until she decided it was time to stop. He answered all her questions fully, but when Xilthara had gone, he couldn't help but feel that he hadn't given her anything she didn't already know; like her entire visit to him was a complete waste of time. He continued to prepare his armour…

* * *

Gechorus serviced his assault cannon, every barrel, every join, every moving part, had to be in total working order and in the best possible condition. He checked his Powerfist for damage, there was minimal damage to the middle finger, but smoothing out the small imperfection was still a long and difficult task as ceramite is hard and strong, like the noble Astartes that wear it.

Servicing one's own tactical dreadnought armour was hard work, but that was good. Everything he was doing, he was doing in the Emperor's name; all the work, all the toil, all the bloodshed, all for the Emperor and Holy Terra. What more noble cause could there be. He kept working away, for days he worked his armour to perfection; keeping the mind focussed on his holy work for the emperor, for an idle mind wanders in dark places.

There was another knock on the door, it was Xilthara. "You disturb me again?" he probed.

"Hi, we are getting near the end of our warp jump, could I ask for some more of your time?"

"If you must," he said as he opened his door wide for her again.

She looked around, the war gear she saw the first time she was in the cabin was still placed on the floor in exactly the same way as it was the last time she saw it. "Have you been servicing your armour the whole time?" asked Xilthara as she made her way to the bed again.

"My armour is my soul, and my soul's dedication, its armour," Gechorus recited.

"Yeah, I heard that," she said, "but I didn't know you actually took it literally," she sat down on the bed, where she sat before, "it's been two whole days," she explained to him, "has anything changed since the last time we spoke?"

Gechorus was almost unaware of the time passing, as he was so engrossed in the maintenance of his equipment. "I am still awaiting the call to arms and the drop with my battle brothers, nothing has changed."

She opened her book and readied her pen, "Do you talk with your brothers at all before a drop?"

"We do not make time for idle chatter."

She looked at him puzzled, "You don't talk about anything?" He just gave her a stern look back in agreement. She looked around the room, searching for something to talk about. "Can I take a closer look at your armour?"

Gechorus didn't take long to make up his mind, "Of course," he said. He knew that the worst she could do was to smudge the perfect sheen he had given the silver, and that wasn't all that bad considering what the Orks were likely to do to it in a few hours.

"I thought the tech priests maintained the space marine armour."

"In this chapter, the adeptus mechanicus are responsible for repairs; but it is the responsibility of each Astartes to take pride in the appearance of his armour, and to ensure that it will work flawlessly."

She crouched down to inspect it, it was immaculate, she dare not touch it, for a mere fingerprint would spoil the beauty of it. "It's perfect," she commented.

"It is the representation of my dedication to the Emperor."

"You should be very happy with your job," she commented, "it looks like new."

A small smile crept on to the face of the cold, hard Space Marine, he wasn't used to compliments.

She continued to inspect the rest of what was on show. She could recognise the big solid parts of the armour, but she couldn't guess the exact purpose of what she could only assume were the mechanical and interface components of the apparatus. "How long does it take to put it on?"

"It takes a team of twenty tech priests and servitors two hours to fully arm me."

"Two hours?" she exclaimed.

"The armour is complicated."

"Yeah, I know but that's insane. I assume it takes that long again to remove it?"

Gechorus nodded. "I will only have it removed at the end of the campaign, when the tech priests have the time to do so."

"It must take a lot of dedication," she commented.

"We are all fully dedicated, heart and soul, body and mind."

She looked thoughtful as she wrote in her book. "I wish I could show that kind of dedication," she said.

"Then thank the Emperor that you don't have to."


	11. Part 2: Chapter 11

The servitors came to escort Gechorus to the armoury. It was time to get ready.

After the long process of arming he went to meet his brothers in the drop pod bay, fully kitted out and ready to get going. His brothers belonged to Squad Pantaleon, named after its sergeant; the other three members of the squad were Remus, Kato and Loukios.

"Brother Kato," he said, greeting the brother closest to him.

"Brother Gechorus," replied Kato, "What kept you?"

They spoke over a tech priest, muttering prayers to the machine god. "I came as quickly as I could," explained Gechorus, "but the servitors were slow in summoning me. Have I missed anything?"

"Only mission details; we are going into a dense manufacturing zone, full of Orks. So we are taking a modified drop pod, teleporting in would be too dangerous," explained Kato.

Gechorus eyed the drop pod; it hadn't changed since the last time he was in it and plummeting towards a planet's surface; back before he got his terminator armour. "And our objective?"

"The green skins have taken a manufactorum, we need to take it back as soon as possible. The longer we leave it in their hands, the more of it they will desecrate."

Remus spoke up, "Menial objectives are pointless, brother. We are going down there to kill Orks, that's all that matters."

The tech priest was almost done inspecting the drop pod; he stepped back and was now whispering words of prayer to the machine spirits that dwelled within. "Bring these noble warriors to their destination straight and true, serve these masters well; and be calm, sweet spirits." He left a moment of pause before telling the space marines, "You may enter."

The five terminator armoured space marines climbed into the drop pod and strapped themselves in, each member of the squad had a door to himself, as the bulk of the terminator armour meant the drop pod that was made for ten, could only fit the squad of five.

The voice box of the tech priest buzzed into life to give them one last reminder of their objective, "The machine spirits will guide you to a walking distance from the entrance to the holy manufactorum. You will be able to see the building from where you land. Destroy the orks, space marines; the desecration of a manufactorum is a great blasphemy against the Machine God."

"…and the Emperor," finished the Sergeant. "We will reclaim it, in his name."

"The Emperor protects," said the tech priest as the doors to the drop pod began to close up around the marines.

"You looking forward to this?" asked Kato.

"As always, brother," replied Gechorus. "Orks die well."

* * *

Drop pods were uncomfortable; they were loud, claustrophobic, and the drops were badly affected by turbulence. They crashed with force that would have killed a normal human; they had landed on solid ground. Bullets were pinging off the armour plating of the drop pod, they had landed in the right place. Pantaleon gave his marines a few seconds to recover their senses from the landing and get their harnesses off. "The Emperor Protects," he stated before slamming the button to open the doors, they fell open and the slaughter began.

Orks did die well. Like countless times before, Gechorus mowed them down, mob after mob. He must have killed fifty orks within a minute of the doors opening, and they kept coming. Occasionally one would get close, but what could an ork boy do against terminator armour? Needless to say they were smashed by Gechorus' power fist.

The dings of bouncing bullets were louder against armour but no more dangerous than when they were hitting the side of the drop pod. Gechorus could feel his ammo box getting light as the horde began to thin, but before it was empty the orks had turned and run from the terminators. They must have realised that the space marines were not going down easy. They continued to shoot some of the fleeing orks, to make sure they kept running.

Gechorus knew the action would start again, when they moved out, so he took a moment to get a new ammo box from the drop pod.

"Form up," ordered Sergeant Pantaleon. And they did, just in front of the sergeant's drop pod door. Looking around, there were many ork bodies that they had killed and some human bodies that were old and rotten; the remains of the planetary defence force that tried so nobly but ultimately failed in keeping the orks away. One body of a human defender did not have a lasgun beside it. Gechorus hoped that this man had not dropped his gun and abandoned his duties as hopeless as the odds may have seemed, for an act of cowardice such as this would have been a shameful betrayal.

Pantaleon pointed up to a building with his sword; the building bared a massive seal of the Adeptus Mechanicus, "That is the Manufactorum, and our target." described Pantaleon "The Orks will know this building is important."

"So we can expect more than just boys when we're inside?" assumed Gechorus.

"Yes," agreed the sergeant, "So it will be a bit more of a challenge if the Emperor is smiling on us."

* * *

They advanced to the Manufactorum every now and then a mob of orks would try to intercept them, but they were no trouble for the marines. Opening the door to the Manufactorum they found the ork desecration of the huge manufacturing floor had already started to take a hold. They had dismantled some of the machines, no doubt planning to use them for their own ends, and had erected primitive fortifications and shrines to their ork gods.

Opening fire again, the marines dealt with the orks in the immediate area with no problems at all. "Keep on guard," warned Pantaleon, "there will be more on their way."

And sure enough, the thundering of hundreds of ork feet and the tell-tale "Waaagh!" that always accompanied them was heard. The orks flooded in from all angles. It didn't take long for Gechorus to empty his gun into countless ork victims, now came time to reload; Gechorus could reload in a matter of seconds, given the space for it, but with hundreds of orks trying to beat him down it was much more of a challenge. For a time his assault cannon was essentially a close combat weapon as he waded his way through the green tide to get to a corner with enough space to reload.

Gechorus could just make out some vox chatter over the immense sound of the orks, "Walker Incoming!" It was Kato. If he was the one to hear its footsteps, then it must be coming from his direction. Gechorus turned to look round at the other marine's locations. They had all become separated from each other, drawn into deeper fighting with the greenskins, or pushed back and looking for space to reload. This was not good, the orks kept pouring in, and with all their guns empty, they were unable to kill them at the same speed they were arriving.

The wall Kato was standing next to shook, with a crash and started to crumble, the walker was on the other side. Another smash, it was trying to get though, but Gechorus had his own ork problems to worry about. Every time he killed one with his power fist or a slam from his assault cannon, two more seemed to take its place.

Finally the wall fell, revealing a hulking Deff Dread, it dwarfed Kato. Now this was a real threat; ork boys had very little chance of doing damage to terminator armour, but a deff dread could put enough force into its massive klaws to crush right through ceramite. The ork boys around Gechorus paused to cheer for the deff dread's arrival; this was all the time Gechorus needed to reload.

As soon as he was able, he got the barrels spinning and quickly shot down the orks in front of him. He then moved to get a clear shot of the walker.

Kato, moved round to the side of the deff dread and used his power fist to krush the exposed components of the walker's legs. But the walker, even though crippled, was not without its arms. A great klaw from the deff dread snatched Kato from the ground and held him in the air. Kato was gripped by his waist and he flailed his power fist around, in the hope of hitting something but as he was being held from the right he didn't have the flexibility to reach. The deff dread tightened its grip around Kato's waist and with a horrible crack, there was a huge spray of blood, and Kato's legs dropped away. His struggles slowed and his torso flopped forwards and fell to the floor.

Gechorus now had a clear shot to the dread's 'face' he quickly took aim and unleashed a salvo of high velocity rounds at the eye of the walker. It seemed to work, the machine's arms dropped and the whole hull of the vehicle began to keel forwards and eventually toppled. The driver within must have been hit. This distracted the rest of the orks long enough for the four space marines to make big sweeps with their automatic weapons. The sudden loss of their walker, then the salvo of shots from the marines must have spooked them. They ran through whatever doors they could get to, the marines took a few of the fleeing orks out as the last of them left the area.

"Nice work, gentlemen," said Pantaleon over the vox as they regrouped in the centre of the room. "Orks only run when they think there is no hope in fighting; they must be running out of bodies."

The floor was covered in dead greenskins, but amongst all the green flesh and crude weaponry, there were two specs of silver. The upper and lower half of brother Kato lay where they fell, a gruesome death for a great hero of the imperium.

Pantaleon started talking into his long range vox, "The manufactorum is secure," he said, "the remaining orks have scattered, it's a clean-up operation now, the guardsmen can take over."

As Pantaleon listened to a response, Gechorus had his eyes fixed on his fallen brother. Such a majestic creation, lying face down in two halves; this was a brother, one of Gechorus' closest, they had been through everything together, they were even in the same scout unit, all those hundreds of years ago.

"And send an apothecary to our location, one our own has fallen," concluded Pantaleon. He spotted Gechorus staring at the body and went over to him. "You are not grieving, brother Gechorus?" probed Pantaleon.

"No, Sergeant," he replied, to show no sign of weakness. "Will the orks will be back?"

"Our company and the system's Militarum are attacking all the ork strongholds in the area at the same time," explained the sergeant. "They will have no reinforcements to send." Pantaleon turned to the other two in the squad crushing an ork body under foot when he did so, "Remus, Loukios, check around the manufactorum for any remaining orks."

* * *

The army had arrived and was pulling away all the ork bodies to be burned outside the manufactorum. Orks must be burned, or their spores can spread and grow. Kato's body was placed in a respectable position as they waited for the apothecary. According to vox chatter the orks had been a very worthy enemy and the apothecaries were busy with wounded marines. The wounded always took precedence over the dead.

"I will never get used to their stench," said Brother Loukios to Gechorus.

"I have come to welcome the smell of burning green flesh," he replied.

Loukios sighed "you think…"

 _Hard work exercises the body and focuses the mind; it is a noble and worthy thing._

Looking around, Loukios tried to find the source of the voice, "What was that?"

"It is the Adeptus Mechanicus' motivational broadcasts," said Gechorus, "I have not heard one for many years."

"I have never heard it before."

"Then you have never seen a functioning manufactorum."

 _Lasgun production of this facility is down ninety percent, please rectify. Work diligently to bring honour and glory to the Machine God._

"You would think good citizens would not need to be reminded to work hard," commented Loukios.

Gechorus turned to face Loukios, "You do not know humans; they are lazy, feeble and weak minded. They need all the encouragement they can get. It's also why they need us."

"Strange that they started the announcements this early," said Loukios, "the workers are not back yet, the army is still clearing up."

 _Praise be to the Emperor. All you do, you do in his name._

"These soldiers are doing Emperor's work as well; are they not?"


	12. Part 2: Chapter 12

The four space marine terminators left in the Stormraven that the apothecary arrived in. They went to an outpost not far outside hive city Liselli. Liselli was the focal point of the ork invasion, and a lot of the system defence forces and the space marines had gathered at the surrounding outposts for a move to take back the city.

The outpost was a military camp, made in one of the small towns outside the city. A few Silver griffons were gathered there, along with a platoon of guardsmen.

Gechorus had his helmet off and was sitting on the ground, with an eye on the great spire of the hive city; trying to work out where the ork warboss would be hiding, and wondering to himself what kind of warboss would be capable of commanding this many orks. Surely the head of this mighty ork would be a worthy trophy for the halls of the Silver Griffons.

He heard a voice behind him, "Gechorus, can we speak?" it was the writer.

Gechorus couldn't see her as his armour did not allow him to look around. "You are not accustomed to the formalities that are expected of you, when meeting an Astartes, Xilthara," he commented.

"What should I say?"

"It is customary to address a Space Marine as 'my lord'" he explained.

"I'm sorry, my lord," she said, "Would it be ok if we spoke together?"

"We may," said Gechorus. Xilthara moved round and sat in front of him so they could speak face to face. She was wearing a black coat to protect herself from the cold. Gechorus felt the cold on his face; it was a welcome release from the full face helmet he had been wearing in the fighting.

"I see your pristine armour didn't last long," she said with a smile. Gechorus glared at her for this unappreciated comment and her smile quickly faded. "How was your mission? Did it go well?"

Gechorus spoke straight, "We cleared the manufactorum, and the Militarum swept the area clean of the remaining orks."

"I heard that it was not all without loss." She commented.

Gechorus looked away from Xilthara, "Brother Kato fell in battle."

Xilthara chose her next words carefully; this could be the most emotion she could get from a Silver Griffon. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Gechorus looked directly back at her, "Don't be, he died in service to the Emperor," said Gechorus with pride, "What greater cause is there?"

"You must feel something," urged Xilthara, "for the loss of a brother I mean."

"He will be missed," said Gechorus, "He was a great fighter."

Xilthara paused a moment to think, "Tell me about something you did together, a memory you have with him."

"Like what?"

"You've been battle brothers for a long time, I don't know," she thought for a moment more. "Tell me about a mission you had."

Gechorus thought about it briefly, what was a good mission he had with Kato? The people of the imperium love to hear about the heroic exploits of the space marines after all. "OK then," he began. Xilthara lit up; and readied her pen for the story.

"We were investigating a space hulk…" he paused, "do you know what a space hulk is?"

"Of course," she said as if patronised, "it's an old ruined spaceship."

"It's more of a collection of ruined space ships pulled together by the warp," correct Gechorus. He continued his story, "This place was infested with gene stealers, far more than usual. We advanced inside this thing for at least ten minutes before we detected anything. We were so far in when part of the structure collapsed and split up our squad, with Kato and me on one side and the rest of the squad on the other; and of course, this is when the gene stealers attacked…"

There wasn't much to this story and Gechorus knew it, but he kept telling it to the end and Xilthara stayed interested, or at least pretended to, all the way through. The story ended with Gechorus and Kato taking the long way back through the space hulk and killing hundreds of gene stealers along the way.

"…and we made it back to our ship." he concluded.

"OK," she said, while pondering what to say next.

Gechorus didn't want to wait for her to say something about his story so he broke the silence "you can spice up the story if you want to retell it in your documentation."

"No, no, it's not that," she said, pondering a bit more. "Can you tell me why you chose to tell me that story?"

Gechorus looked back up at the top of the hive city, imagining the great conquests he would have enjoyed with Kato. "I think…" he inhaled and considered his answer carefully, "…I told you because it was the time when I felt our lives were most in danger; it was also the time where I felt that if I had been with any one of my other squad mates that day, the outcome may not have been the same."

Xilthara's eyes widened, "Now that _is_ what I'm looking for." She stood up and said, "I've got to go for a moment, I'll be back soon."

Gechorus nodded as if he was giving permission and she left him.

He bowed his head with the intention of pre-battle meditation, but he was distracted. Xilthara had left her book on the ground; Gechorus had to have a look inside, he had to read what she had written about the chapter, about the campaign, and about him. He picked it up and peered inside he could see that she wrote quickly, but each stroke of the pen had been done with the lightest and most precise of strokes creating beautiful loops and swirls. He began reading.

 _The Space Marines are not exactly the most accommodating of hosts, it has taken me months to get this kind of access and I have been greeted by nothing but coldness and hostility. I can see I'm not welcome here; no space marine that I have approached wanted to talk to me. Maybe they think I'm part of the inquisition; well if that's true there must be something to hide, because they don't want to share anything._

 _They have given me my own quarters; I've been told that it's the same type of accommodation a Space Marine can expect. There is no window and the bed is rock hard; I should be grateful though. No one else on this ship who isn't a space marine has this much room to themselves._

Gechorus flicked through the pages until he found the part about himself.

 _After days on the ship without getting a word in with any of the marines, finally I found one who will talk to me; and he's a terminator! so it looks like I've got a veteran to talk to. His name is Gechorus and if I'm honest, he's quite handsome. He has no facial scarring or visible cybernetics, so he makes quite a nice "poster boy" for the chapter. Maybe it sounds silly, but I have always thought that a handsome space marine is such a waste; these handsome men are taken out of society and become nothing more than killing machines. The marines are abnormally big, even under their armour. Gechorus' muscles were bulging through his clothes, but it's more scary and intimidating than sexy._

 _The way Gechorus speaks, it's strange I feel almost like everything he says is a line that has been drilled into his head from an old book written by Guilliman himself. I get the impression that there is no room for a space marine to think for himself; maybe the humanity they fight for has left their minds as well as their bodies; so in a way I feel sorry for them. Maybe if I slowly build my relationship with Gechorus, he will open up to me, surely there is a soft side to…_

Gechorus looked around and caught a glance of Xilthara on her way back, he quickly closed the book, and set it on the floor where she left it. She sat next to the hulking space marine so they could share the view of Liselli.

"What does a Space Marine think of when he looks at a hive city?" she asked him.

"I am trying to work out where the Warboss might be hiding, and where he would have set up defences," he explained, "but it's pointless to think about it. Orks have no patterns and they do not develop tactics through logic. They can be an impossible force to outmanoeuvre, as they are totally unpredictable."

"Do you only think about fighting?" she asked, "Don't you think about the people who you are going in there to save?"

Gechorus looked ahead, at the giant city, at all the many spires that made up the great man-made mountain. In truth he had not spared much thought for the imperial citizens, the good, loyal subjects of Emperor and the whole reason he was fighting the orks.

A familiar voice called, "Gechorus, you are needed for the mission briefing," it was Brother Loukios, it was time to head out again.

Gechorus did not say 'good bye' to Xilthara as he stood up, as such pleasantries only needed to be implied by the Space Marines.

"Good luck," she called out to him.

He turned back to face her, "There is no luck," he slid his helmet on over his head, "there is only the will of the Emperor."

* * *

"Nice of you to join us, Gechorus," said Company Captain Casidus with a smile. He had no helmet and stood with the general of the local militarum in front of maps of the Liselli and the surrounding land. Gechorus joined his squad brothers, Loukios, Remus and Pantaleon in hearing about the upcoming operation.

"The orks are swarming all over the city and we need to take it from all angles to make sure they cannot focus their defence," explained the captain. "We will use rhinos and tactical drop pods to surround the city and make sure that they have nowhere to escape from."

The militarum general cut in, "The army will provide support and will follow the space marines into the breaches."

"Where will we be inserted?" asked Pantaleon, glancing at a map of the city.

"You will be taken by Land Raider to an entrance of the underhive," explained Casidus.

"To enter the city from below?" asked Loukios.

"We have reason to believe that the orks are holding a noble captive in the underhive, here," he pointed to a location on one of the maps, "you will need to go in there and get him out."

"A rescue mission?" scoffed Remus, almost insulted by the idea.

"Yes," commented Casidus, "it is the governor of Liselli. It is vital that you get him back here and out of ork hands."

"How do we know he is alive?" asked Remus.

"He's too valuable to kill," commented the general, "even orks would know that."

"You overestimate their intelligence," sneered Remus.

"You will be driven to the underhive after the main attack has started, this will minimise ork resistance down below," explained the captain, "they are sure to join the fight in the main city."

"And if the governor is dead?" asked Pantaleon.

"Then retrieve his body," ordered the captain, "You have your mission, now go forth with the Emperor's guidance. We will brief you further on the governor's possible location when you are in the Land Raider."

The four of them turned to leave the briefing, but Gechorus turned back to ask, "Do we know the location of the Warboss."

"No," said the General, "but we can assume that he is somewhere near the top."


	13. Part 2: Chapter 13

They had their mission; there was no chance for glory in rescuing the governor. All they would receive was the gratification of an old man, and that is assuming he was alive. This was a waste of their abilities; they all knew it, but none of them said anything. The true honours would go the squad that slayed the warboss.

They worked out why they had been chosen for this task, their squad was below full effectiveness with Kato dead so they may be compromised if placed in the middle of the battle for the city; Squad Pantaleon was also adept at navigating through dark, enclosed labyrinths; as the similarities between under hives and space hulks were clear.

The underhive was the part of a city the imperium would like to forget existed, but there is an under hive to every city. Filled with the lowest orders of human society; underhives are almost without exception infested with crime, mutation, and much worse. Gechorus, in all his long years had never had the misfortune of being in the underhive of a city before; but he had no doubt the sight of four of the Emperor's finest would be sources of bewilderment and wonder to the denizens of the dark tunnels.

Walking through, it was hard not to notice the extreme levels of poverty and hardship that these imperial citizens had to endure. There was no sunlight, just the dark, murky glow from lamps that only lit up the surrounding smog and did little to illuminate the way ahead. Gechorus had been in space hulks that were more inviting than this place. There were no signs of the orks, no ork desecration; the foul air did not carry the stench of the greenskins. There were not even any signs of conflict. Occasionally a person would peer their head from behind a dark corner to catch a glimpse of the mighty space marines, just to disappear again when the marines turned to look. Their presence was a reminder to Gechorus that there were people living in this terrible place. It was small comfort to him that the life expectancy here was so low that none of these people would have to endure these conditions for a full lifetime.

An old speaker system somewhere was crackled into life, and the warboss had got his hands on it. "Space Marines!" the voice was barely decipherable, the awful quality of the speakers coupled with the probable fact that the ork was far too close to the microphone he was yelling into. "Get out of my city! I'm Boss Kozgor and this city is MINE! WAAAAGH!"

"That will help our brothers zone in on the warboss' location," said Pantaleon.

"I hate hearing the Orks speak," grumbled Loukios.

"Why?" asked Brother Remus.

Loukios sighed, "Because the Astra Militarum are defeated by these monsters on occasion; it would not be as shameful if they showed intelligence."

"Be mindful of your words, Brother Loukios," warned Gechorus, "There are imperial citizens within earshot."

Loukios suppressed his urge to speak out, it was his duty to protect the imperium in all ways; that included his duty to protect the people's confidence in the imperium.

They approached a junction in the pathways. There were four different ways to go, and no indication which one might be the correct one.

"A fork in the road," commented Loukios, "Where shall we go?"

"This is a waste of time," grunted Remus, "We should split up, find the body and get this over with."

"No," argued Pantaleon, "We cannot be separated again."

"How are we going to find the governor, then?" asked Loukios.

"Citizens of the Holy Emperor," addressed Pantaleon to whoever may be in earshot, "We are here to kill the vile ork invaders. Please indicate to us where they may be."

They waited. "You will not get a response, sergeant," commented Remus, "These people skulk in the shadows like rats; they won't approach us."

It took a few minutes before one of the locals had enough courage to come out of the darkness and go to them. A tatty skinny little man, he was wrapped in grey rags, all apart from his feet. He had most of his face covered up, as the air was foul and no doubt poisonous.

"We saw the orks," he said bluntly, his voice barely big enough to be heard past his face coverings; a boney finger raised out from the rags and indicated to the left. "They went that way."

"Why are there no signs of fighting?" asked Pantaleon.

The small man simply said, "There were not many of them, and it is easy to hide from orks if they aren't looking for you."

Pantaleon took a more aggressive tone, "You should have fought!"

"With what?" asked the man; stunned that that could even be considered. "A few of us have lasguns, but what if that doesn't stop them. They could have killed us all."

"Serving the Emperor in death is a noble reward in itself," stated Pantaleon.

"There are children here," explained the man, looking at the ground. "The orks that came through here went that way; four of them. They had an important looking prisoner with them."

Pantaleon went in the direction the man was pointing, the three other space marines followed.

Gechorus caught the sound of the man murmur something under his breath, he was sure it was "don't come back," but he didn't tell the sergeant, he thought it best not to react to it at all.

"Why would orks take prisoners?" asked Loukios. "I have never seen them do that before."

"Neither have I," said Gechorus, "but I have heard of it, rare as it may be."

"You must never forget that orks are unpredictable by nature," explained Pantaleon, "every ork mob is different. They probably caught the prisoner to tell them how to reach a stockpile of fuel or ammunition, or how to use the great planetary defence guns."

* * *

They continued down the alleyway until they started hearing the orks with their own ears; locating them after that was simple.

Loukios was the one to look around the right corner first. Upon seeing them, he simply shouted "Orks!" The other Marines immediately looked round to his location, Loukios shot about ten rounds into the first one before the three that were left were upon him. These big orks were 'nobs'; bigger than regular orks and suitably armed. They swung massive, crude clubbing and chopping weapons into Loukios that sent him stumbling back against a wall. This gave Remus and Gechorus the room they needed for a clear shot at two of the nobs. Loukios levered the last nob towards himself by grabbing hold of its own melee weapon, and forcing it into a headlock. The thick ork skull did not last long in the grip of the terminator's power fist, and soon enough it burst with a satisfying crunch.

There was a little yelp of shock from the corner. Sitting on a chair was a richly dressed man with white hair, a beard and ork brain matter splattered across his face. This must be the man that they were there to save. "Thank the Emperor you came!" exclaimed the old man, "They would have killed me for sure."

"You must be the governor of Liselli," asked Pantaleon, "why were the orks keeping you?"

The man was tied onto the chair by the arms, he paused a moment before answering, maybe a bit surprised that the greeting was so cold. "I am the city governer, my name is Solemis Tarvos," he explained, "They wanted to know how to access the planetary defence guns."

"Good guess, Sergeant," commented Remus.

"I didn't tell them anything!" added the old man quickly. The sergeant walked over to the chair and cut the old man from his crude bonds, Tarvos wiped the ork blood from his face as soon as he was able, he then stood up to join Pantaleon's side. The three other space marines kept a lookout encase of any other orks who may be alerted to the rescue. "And what are the names of my saviours?"

Gechorus said simply "We are Squad Pantaleon, of the Silver Griffons."

"Why are you unharmed?" asked Pantaleon. "I would imagine the orks to torture someone if they need information."

"I outsmarted them; they told me that they would cut my arm off if I didn't help them," he explained, "So I told them that I needed my arms to type in the code. They spent the rest of the time arguing over what else they should threaten me with. They didn't have me here long before you interrupted them."

"Area clear," stated Remus.

"What is the quickest way out of the underhive, Tarvos?" asked Pantaleon; expecting the governor to know his city better than the visitors.

"I think the nearest exit is that way," said Tarvos, pointing the way the marines came from.

"Then that is where we go."

The marines turned to leave the area, keeping the old man within their ranks. The marines walked slower than they would normally as was courtesy when walking with humans, but Tarvos still had to walk fast to keep up with their gigantic strides.

* * *

They were passing through the slums where the marines had received directions. A small child ran out towards the five who were passing through, this child was dressed the same way as the man they met earlier, wrapped in rags and barefoot. The child ran towards Loukios and wrapped her arms around one of his legs. Loukios stopped in his tracks, as did the other marines, he looked around at his brothers as if looking for advice, but the most he got as a response was a shrug from Remus.

"You've killed the monsters," said the child with its face rubbing on the shin guard of the hulking terminator, "You're our heroes!"

"Get off me, child," said Loukios, he was impatient to get the child off his leg, but he dare not move, encase his great strength hurt the child.

Solemis Tarvos, quickly intervened, he kneeled down to eye level with the child and said, "These Space Marines are here to kill all the green monsters. The Emperor sent them, and they are going to rescue all of us."

A young woman came from the darkness to pull the child away. "Bitucia," called the woman as she grabbed the child's arm. She was small in stature and once again, covered in rags, all except for her arms and her feet. The child went with her but kept her gaze on the marines.

"Woman, halt!" ordered Pantaleon. She stopped in her tracks, obeying the order from the marine without question; she turned, revealing the fear in her eyes. Pantaleon fixed his storm bolter to his waist as he walked over to the woman; he grabbed her arm and inspected it. "You have the mark of heresy," he whispered. The woman struggled but could not get away, her feet slid on the hard ground and her free arm had now let go of the child and was flailing around trying to grab onto something to help herself escape. Pantaleon grabbed her head, and she stopped moving. He ripped the cloth away from her face. "You have an icon of chaos etched into your flesh."

"What?" exclaimed the woman as she struggled to pull herself free, "No I don't."

"Lies of the heretic." said Pantaleon with one swift, easy movement, he twisted the woman's neck and killed her.

"Heresy breeds heresy!" declared Pantaleon, "Where there is one, there are more." He pulled his gun from his side and aimed it at the now distraught child who was kneeling over the dead woman, "Intolerance is the only appropriate action." He pulled the trigger and after a bloody explosion, the remains of the child fell to the floor.

Solemis Tarvos screamed "No!" to stop the execution, but there was nothing that could be done. The Emperor's judgement had been dealt. "What are you doing?" he shouted. "Why did you kill the little girl?"

"One seed of doubt can lead to a world of heresy," stated Pantaleon. "Do you doubt the chosen of the Emperor?"

Tarvos did not dare to answer.

"Every resident here is potentially a slave to the ruinous powers of the warp," declared Pantaleon to his squad, "Kill them all."

The four marines left the underhive with empty magazines. The city governor followed behind them. They did not speak to each other, silence seemed appropriate.

* * *

The land raider dropped the five of them off some distance away from the outpost so it could return to the fighting as soon as possible.

"Hurry up, Tarvos!" called Pataleon, "We are nearly at the camp."

"I'm coming, 'Space Marine'," he called back through gritted teeth. Deliberately keeping his distance from the marines.

At the camp, the local guardsmen who had been on guard welcomed them, one of them even recognised Solemis Tarvos, greeting him with a salute, Tarvos only returned a nod.

Tarvos was told to sit down at one of the guards' tables; he did so, with no protest. The terminators were the first marines back at the camp, so Pantaleon got in contact with the rest of the company over vox to see if it would be worth going back to the city to re-join the fighting.

"We have returned to the camp with a VIP," said Pantaleon, "Do you need assistance with the rest of the Orks?" He waited for a response, "Understood."

Cutting the vox communications, he turned to tell his men the news, "The warboss has been killed." The three other terminators all felt the same at this point, they all wanted to be there to deal the final blow to the ork leader or at least witness it; but it was not to be. "The orks are on the run; the Militarum and the Silver Griffons are cleansing the area of the remaining forces."

"Who killed the warboss?" asked Gechorus.

"Squad Myrsinus," said Sergeant, "It was a lascannon that killed him."

Gechorus nodded in recognition of this mighty deed, and there was silence once again.

"Don't you think the soldiers here would want to know that the warboss has been killed?" asked Tarvos.

"They will be told by their superiors," said Remus.

"You should tell them."

"Why?" sneered Remus.

"Because it's good news," he explained, "The alien threat has been destroyed. Good news would be a relief for the men."

Remus glanced over at the sergeant who gave him the order: "Go and spread the news."

Remus nodded in understanding then left the group.

"Transport will arrive soon," said Pantaleon to the two other space marines, "we will get back to the ship and the Inquisition will be notified of what we have seen here."

"The Inquisition?" exclaimed Tarvos. "Why?"

Pantaleon turned to the old man, "You know why."

"Because of the heretics?" he asked, aghast. "It's just a few harmless cultists?"

"Those cultists you speak of are the followers of chaos," said Loukios, "you cannot say that they are harmless."

"The Inquisition will destroy us," argued Tarvos, he sounded shaky and frail; he could barely keep up the strength to argue for his own survival; as if mention of the inquisition had sapped all energy from his being. Gechorus had kept a watch on the old man throughout the conversation, trying to get a gage on his emotions and feelings towards the heretics. Judging people's emotions was not something he was very good at but even a stone cold space marine could tell that this man was scared. "And what about you," said the man directly to Gechorus, "do you want to call the inquisition here to destroy us all?"

Gechorus looked over at his sergeant nothing was said between them, Gechorus knew his place, and he knew his duty. "I stand with the judgement of my brothers and the servants of the emperor."

"Then it is already over," said the old man, he turned and gazed up at Liselli's tallest spires, "You have saved us from the orks; you have fought and died with us; only to sentence us to death."


	14. Part 2: Chapter 14

The space marines were back on the ship, the main ork threat had been dealt with, the Astra Militarum could handle whatever was left. The Silver Griffons Third Company was now on its way to its next mission: a psychic distress call from another space marine ship.

Gechorus was once again caring for his armour. The ork blood was sticky and the scratches from the guns were many, much devotion was needed to bring this holy armour back to the glorious appearance it once had. Alas as much as he worked and toiled, his thoughts came back to the words of Solemis Tarvos, as strong as his devotion to the Emperor and the Imperium was, he could not deny the truth of what he had said. Had the space marines come all this way and done so much of the Emperor's work; only to leave as greater enemies to the people than the orks? "It cannot be so," he murmured under his breath. It was not his place to pass judgement on the fate of a planet, it was not up to him to call upon the inquisition; but he could not help but feel that calling on the inquisition would not be the right action to take. An old inquisitors' saying kept spinning round in his mind, "some question our right to kill a planet's population, they should ask, 'what right do we have to let them live.'"

A knocking was heard at his door, 'It must be the writer,' he thought. He got up to open the door and indeed, there she was, standing there with her book, ready for more 'insight'. Gechorus moved aside to let her pass into the room.

"Good day, my lord," she said with a smile. She sat on the bed and waited for Gechorus to sit beside her, "… if it is day time, it's hard to tell on a space ship."

He did not reply to her, he just sat down on the bed and waited for her to start delving into his mind.

"So how did it go down there?" asked Xilthara.

"We rescued the governor and returned him safely from a hostile environment."

"Is that all?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"It is all I wish to share."

"What was it like in the underhive?"

Gechorus took a deep breath, "It is a vile place; the air is toxic, there is no sunlight and the inhabitants are…" he paused.

"The inhabitants are what?" she probed.

"I would prefer not to say."

"What's wrong?" she asked, "Did you lose another brother?"

He shook his head, "It was not our proudest moment."

"But you saved everyone," she argued.

Gechorus stared at the floor, his mind swimming with conflicting thoughts and emotions.

"I think you need to talk about it," advised Xilthara. She closed the book and set it beside her, and shuffled over to get closer to the marine, "Look, I won't even write it down. It's off the record, you can tell me anything."

Gechorus took a deep breath, she was right, he couldn't play quiet all the time and he needed to let loose his emotions before they got the better of him. "I lost a brother today," he said, "and now the planet's fate lies with the Inquisition."

"What does the Inquisition want with…"

"There were heretics in the underhive," explained the space marine. "I do not know exactly what an inquisitor's judgement would be, but extreme action may be taken, especially if the heresy has spread to other cities. If the entire planet is corrupt, then exterminatus might be the action they would take."

"Exterminatus?" exclaimed Xilthara, "for some heretics in the slums?"

"The inquisition is cruel, Xilthara," sighed the marine. His emotions were getting the better of him, he was on the verge of saying things that he shouldn't, it was better to mull these issues though in silent solitude. "I am very sorry, but I need to be alone."

* * *

Xilthara left Gechorus, but he found that as much as he tried, he could not get absorbed in the care of his armour. He worked but the mind was distracted, his thoughts kept coming back to what Tarvos said, the people he killed and the people that were going to die when the Inquisition passed its judgement. Sergeant Pantaleon often used sword practice to calm the mind and meditate; perhaps he should try it himself.

Gechorus entered the training room; Pantaleon was going through sword drills on his own, with only the eyes of a waiting servitor watching his movements. Pantaleon was a master of the blade and was nearly unbeatable; the sergeant moved through different stances and performed neatly choreographed attacks at an imaginary enemy changing swiftly between forms to improve balance and control.

"Gechorus!" exclaimed the sergeant, "It is always a welcome sight to see a brother in the training room. Will you join me in training with the sword?"

The servitor trundled over to Gechorus, presenting a second training sword. He nodded in acceptance to Pantaleon and took it from the servitor. It was as big and as heavy as a power sword, but it was a simple thing, there was no power source and the edge was not battle-sharp; but it was still as immaculately decorated with insignias and words of wisdom as any weapon made for the Astartes.

For hours they went through form training, then they duelled, and in forty rounds of fighting, Pantaleon was the victor in all.

"You are off your game today," said Pantaleon, when they sat down to rest.

"You have always been the better swordsman," admitted Gechorus.

"Perhaps," said Pantaleon, "But your skills with a blade are not normally so easy to overcome. If I was to guess, I would say that you were distracted."

Gechorus sighed, what he was about to admit could lead to great ramifications, if Pantaleon was not in an understanding mood. "My mind has been wondering in dark places," Gechorus explained.

"I see, what is the nature of these dark places?"

"My thoughts keep falling back to the underhive."

"The heretics?"

"Yes."

"You must then be thinking of the great glory of the Emperor we shined upon them," suggested Pantaleon.

Gechorus said nothing.

"You cannot just sit in silence; the Emperor's glory was shown to those heretics in its purest form."

Gechorus still said nothing

"Surely you saw it," continued Pantaleon, "because if I remember rightly, you were killing heretics along side me."

Gechorus did not give a response.

"But I noticed something, in the middle of all the noise and bloodshed of the emperor's work, you were wasting multiple rounds into the same target, and you were missing entirely at times. I was surprised at your lack of precision and efficiency. It didn't take long until I realised the problem."

Gechorus glanced over at the waiting servitor, expressionless and thoughtless; there may have been some listening device active on it.

"Ignore the servitor," said Pantaleon, reading his concerns, "it is not recording," he assured. "You doubted our cause, our right to kill those people." Pantaleon could see that Gechorus accepted the accusation; the lack of an argument or retaliation confirmed that the sergeant was correct. "The reason I did not mention it until now was that I had doubts of my own as well."

Gechorus perked up and listened intently. He had never known the sergeant to show weakness, or to admit doubt.

"We have done the Emperor's work for hundreds of years, you and I," explained Pantaleon, "and what mark have we left on the galaxy other than bloodshed?"

"Some say we give hope to the people we fight for," said Gechorus.

"Do you think we gave those people hope?" asked Pataleon, "The ones in the underhive. They are terrified of us now, those who are left."

"The Codex Astartes says to destroy chaos," explained Gechorus, he slowly thought about what he what he had just said. The codex Astartes was very clear but for the first time, the situation was not clear in his mind, "but we did not have to kill them."

"It is heresy to say such things, Gechorus," commented Pantaleon with a raised eyebrow.

"Our mission was to kill the orks," explained Gechorus "and we succeeded. We did not need to tell the inquisition."

"But it is our eternal mission to destroy the dark forces of the galaxy," explained Pantaleon, "I'm amazed you would forget that. It was the Emperor's will that we killed those people. All of them, every man, every woman..."

"…every child."

"Yes," sighed Pantaleon, "the Emperor is cruel; those who manage to survive our 'intervention' are forced to join his vast armies or are worked to death in his factories; the people are better off without his 'protection.'" He paused; perhaps Pantaleon was trying to gage the emotions of his brother, "I did not call on the inquisition. The only people who know about the heretics in the under hive are the four of us and Tarvos."

Gechorus couldn't put it all the different thoughts and ideas together; still trying to formulate his own opinion. Pantaleon began to put more ideas into his mind. "What does it matter anyway? We are more evolved than them, we are Astartes, they should be working, fighting and dying for our cause; but no, under the rule of the Emperor, we work, fight and die for them. I have outgrown my bonds of servitude to the Emperor and petty humanity and I do not want to live by this backwards regime anymore."

Gechorus shifted back on his seat and looked the sergeant in the eye, "You are suggesting betrayal!"

"Our cause is not as righteous as our leaders would have us believe," the sergeant continued to explain; "they have been betraying humanity and astartes for an age. We need to turn our back on this chapter"

"I will not betray my brothers," stated Gechorus.

"I do not want to either, but should the opportunity arise that we can relinquish our bonds to the Imperium, we should take it."

Gechorus rested his head heavily in his hands. All this talk of betrayal was unsettling, he needed time to think. He wanted to stand by his sergeant but, "This is the path to chaos, Sergeant."

"It is only the path to chaos if you surrender yourself to it."

"And what if the only way out of the Imperium is through chaos, would you surrender yourself to it?" Gechorus asked.

"I think that when the time comes, we will both know what is right," assured Pantaleon.

Gechorus got up to leave.

"Remus and Loukios are of the same mind as myself," commented Pantaleon, "when we are to abandon our chapter, they will join us."

Gechorus turned back to his brother before he went through the exit, "I must ask sergeant, how long has your charade of the loyal space marine been going on? How long has all your talk of devotion to the emperor been an act?"

"Longer than I have been a terminator."


	15. Part 2: Chapter 15

Gechorus returned to his cabin, but did not distract his mind with the work of preparing his armour, he was already distracted. Was this heresy? Unquestionably. Would it be a betrayal to his chapter? Certainly. But the more he thought, the more he considered his sergeant's opinion , the more his own opinion formed.

Xilthara had entered Gechorus' room and was again ready to prise answers from the marine.

"Let me tell you something I heard," said Gechorus to Xilthara. She was sitting on the bed and leaned in closer to the marine, as she always did, "There was a vision and all psykers at the time saw it. The vision was that of the Emperor on the golden throne."

"But seeing visions of the Emperor can't be a rare thing for a psyker," commented Xilthara.

"In the visions, the emperor shed tears, and all that had the vision said the same about it; 'he weeps not for himself, but for mankind.'"

She looked up at him, away from her writing, wondering why he would bring up that event.

Concern grew for himself in his head, he knew he should not be thinking such things, Xilthara looked back at him in understanding and he knew she could be trusted, he knew that she would not write anything that would spell doom for either of them. "Do you think mankind has lost its way?"

"I don't know, I have not seen as much as you have," she replied.

"I am talking about the people in command of the Imperium. Some people think the vision is an indication of the heresy throughout the imperium and how it is hurting the Emperor to know about it. But I'm not so sure about that any more. I think he weeps for the people because of how misguided the leaders of humanity have become."

"I don't understand," said Xilthara, "I trust the Administratum."

"I do not," sighed Gechorus, "not after what I've seen, not after what I've been ordered to do."

"What have you been ordered to do?" she inquired.

"It is our duty to cleanse the Imperium of any chaos threat we come across, to leave it undisturbed would be a transgression. In our last mission we found cultists in the underhive, and we killed them all." Gechorus paused, staring at the ground he found it impossible to look Xilthara in the eye, "even the children."

"You killed children?" she asked, stunned, "Why would you do that?"

"Because it is what the Emperor would have commanded," he explained. "If the Emperor is truly great and good, then the High Lords of Terra are not, and I do not want to fight for them anymore."

"This is really big," commented Xilthara, "I can't write this down, you know."

Worry was etched across his face, "I should not be having these thoughts."

"The Silver Griffons are human after all," said Xilthara as she moved closer to him. "I think you need something to take your mind of things."

He looked at her, 'what could she possibly have to take my mind off things?' he thought.

"I know people who can give anyone a good time."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it to reveal her shoulder. A tattoo, it was unmistakable to Gechorus as a mark of Slaanesh, one of the Chaos gods.

"No," said Gechorus, "you can't be…"

"What do you mean," said Xilthara, "it's just a bit of fun."

"Do you know nothing of Chaos?" he asked, standing up and distancing himself from her.

"Chaos?" asked Xilthara, "it's just a pleasure cult."

"But it isn't harmless, is it," said Gechorus through gritted teeth, "why you?" a tear began to trickle from his eye. "Why did it have to be you?"

"I don't understand; what have I done?" she asked, allowing her tattoo to be covered again.

"Nothing," sighed Gechorus, "You have done nothing."

* * *

Gechorus stood in the observation dome, looking out upon the warp, all the colours and all the swirling shapes seemed to writhe for eternity. Without the ship's psychic barriers it would surely be sucked into the madness beyond.

He thought about Xilthara, she had been there, before the mission in the underhive. She had released much of his mind from the tight constraints that he had been forced to live by; and in doing so, perhaps unintentionally opening up his thoughts and emotions to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Maybe the fact that is only look a few questions to bring these doubts to the forefront of Gechorus' mind showed that he was already on the path to heresy. He saw her as the seed for his doubt.

A figure came to stand beside him; Gechorus could feel the weight in the floor, unmistakably the mass of an astartes.

"I don't see you here often, brother Gechorus," commented the marine.

"Myrsinus," greeted Gechorus, "I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on your slaying of the warboss."

"It was a trifling matter; he left cover and walked straight into our sight line," commented Myrsinus, "The larger Orks are tough, but not much can stand up to lascannon fire."

They looked on, into the warp, Gechorus careful not to let its swirling insanity enrapture them in its beauty.

"Have you ever stared into it?" asked Myrsinus, "you can see things, you can see the forms of the warp, all you need to do is stare past the swirls of colour and it is revealed."

"I have not," said Gechorus; he looked on, he stared, he tried to see past the colours of the warp, but nothing was being revealed to him. "Surely it is the realm of psykers to make sense of the warp, I am not so blessed."

"…or cursed?" finished Myrsinus.

"That depends on your point of view."

"You do not need psychic powers to be able to see what is presented to us in this way; only a soulless blank would not be able to see into the warp when it is presented to us." Gechorus looked round at Myrsinus, curious about what explanation he would give. "All you need to do is give yourself to it; do not fight it with your mind, let it in, and it will reveal its wonders to you…"

Gechorus looked ever deeper, but he could not see anything that could be considered a form, "What is it like?"

"Incredible," said Myrsinus, "and impossible." Myrsinus stared on into the void. "I cannot describe it."

More time passed, Myrsinus and Gechorus watched on, into the warp. Gechorus was about to turn and leave Myrsinus alone, but Myrsinus spoke again, "Sometimes, I think to myself, that the warp holds answers, answers that might be correct."

Gechorus turned to him and said "These are the words of chaos."

"…and you have heard them before," responded Myrsinus, a smile was growing across his face. "Thoughts of chaos are everywhere on this ship, we will break from this chapter and it will be glorious, think of the power we would have, think of the pleasures we could experience."

The good side of chaos was a difficult concept for Gechorus to grasp; thoughts of abandoning the Imperium was one thing; thoughts of joining chaos was quite another. He said nothing.

"I have spoken to the navigator," said Myrsinus while watching the warp once more, "deliverance is not far away."


	16. Part 2: Chapter 16

Warp travel came to a halt, Gechorus had spent the past eighteen hours alone and locked away in his cabin; he had been meditating on the situation that would inevitably arise and who would be standing by his side when that decision was made.

Almost as soon as the ship had emerged from warp travel an announcement calling for astartes to arm for emergency was heard. Gechorus obeyed his summoning and left his room with the servitors once they came for him. Half the normal number of workers were on hand to prepare him, and despite this, he was ready in half the time. Such was the emergency, they only had one tech priest administering the rites and blessings of the machine god; doubtless the terminator armour would work just as well.

"…honour the battle gear of the dead," finished one of the tech priests as he began to lower the helmet onto Gechorus' head at the end of the arming process.

"I ask only…" the helmet was sealed over his head and it began to filter his breathing, "…to serve." That was the last thing said in the arming process. Gechorus was ready to meet the enemy.

* * *

As he moved through the corridors of the ship, heads up display notifications in his helmet were telling him, "Burn the heretic," "Purge the unclean," and "The Emperor Protects." All this talk of heretics and 'unclean' could only mean one thing: Chaos. The fact he was rushed through arming surely meant that there was a space bound chaos force incoming. They were going to be attacked.

"Squad Pantaleon, who is armed?" came the voice of Gechorus' sergeant. "Vox Check!"

"Loukios, Aye!" came the first response from a team member.

"Remus, Aye!" was the second marine in the squad to announce his readiness.

Gechorus waited a few seconds for a reply from Kato who he soon remembered, he would never hear from. "Gechorus, Aye," he said into the vox, completing squad Pantaleon.

"We are under attack by a chaos battlebarge," explained Pantaleon, "and the rushed arming process has left us scattered. We are to rendezvous with the Captain in the Reclusiam. Is that understood?"

"Aye!" the three understood his command and the vox channel was closed..

Gechorus now had a destination; he was already moving the right way.

His armour was heavy, but he did not so much wear it as he was implanted into it every time it was applied to him. Every movement he made was made as if the armour weighed nothing. As long has he stayed within its mechanical limitations, he could very easily forget that he had it on at all. But with the rush of marines, people, and servitors all around him, it was hard to forget that it was the scene of a battle.

That was until a deep booming thud was heard from the hull of the Strike Cruiser, the feeling of being in a space battle was disorientating; one would hear and feel nothing until something was fired or the space ship was struck. The support staff had been driven into a frenzied panic of running and stumbling from the effect of laser strikes and explosions reverberating through out the ship.

"My lord!" a small voice, familiar and soft called out to him. He looked around and saw Xilthara standing at the door of what he could only assume was her cabin, "what's going on?"

Gechorus stopped in his tracks, "Xilthara!" he called back, "Come with me! I will keep you safe."

She didn't hesitate or argue; as quickly as she could, she ran to his side.

He moved as fast as his armour could, Xilthara did not have any difficulty in running to keep up. He heard the contrast in the footsteps; the loud mechanical THUD of his terminator armour interspersed with the light tap, tap, tap of her small feet pushing her slight frame along beside him. Among the noise and disorder it was comforting to have a regular rhythm.

"Where are we going?" asked Xilthara.

"The Reclusiam," said Gechorus, "it's a rendezvous for the Space Marines, you will be safe there."

They turned a corner; another long corridor, this one with the exterior wall of the ship on their right, and more cabin and storeroom doors on their left. Gechorus knew his way around most of the ship but he was sure that Xilthara did not, he checked again that she was near, if he failed to keep sight of her now she might get lost in the busy crowd.

"Wait!" she said as she stopped.

He stopped with her "What is it?" he asked.

"Something is scratching at the walls."

Gechorus paused to listen. The unmistakable sound of metal scraping on metal; something was trying to claw its way in from the void. "It's a heldrake," said Gechorus. "A demonic mutation of an ancient fighter craft; they are strong, but not strong enough to claw though the side of a strike cruiser." He smiled to give her reassurance, despite the fact that his face was covered it appeared to give her comfort, but it was probably just his presence that gave her peace of mind. "Come on, we need to get to the reclusiam, the other marines will be waiting for us."

She didn't move, "Please tell me what's going on."

Gechorus could see fear in her eyes, she moved towards him and placed her hand on his assault cannon, her eyes were fixed on his, she didn't want to move on until she knew what kind of threat the ship was facing.

"It's a chaos attack," explained Gechorus, "It's most likely the forces of the traitor legions."

"Traitor legions?" asked Xilthara, "You mean Space Marines?"

"Yes."

The two of them were shaken by a gigantic crash on the side of the ship. That was no laser, nor was it explosive, something heavy had struck the other side of the wall. Xilthara began to ask "What was…"

"Get in that room!" he ordered with his massive power fist pointed at one of the cabin doors, "and close the door behind you!" She didn't hesitate. She ran into the room and shut the door. The blast doors for the corridor slammed down to seal the area off in case of depressurisation. All the people that were bustling around him were now stuck, there were no other marines in the area and everyone had to ready whatever weapons they had.

Gechorus knew exactly what it was, an assault claw, similar to a drop pod, but for delivering marines into the belly of a ship instead of the centre of a battlefield. Soon the assault claw will have bored through the side of the strike cruiser and the enemy marines would be on top of him. The claw had landed right in front of where Gechorus was standing and there were now many different support staff gathering around the position with various las guns and auto weapons. The wall started glowing with heat. It would not be long until the traitor marines came out of the transport and into the ship.

In this moment of tension before the explosion of violence that was to unfold, Gechorus thought with clarity about the situation. Perhaps this was the deliverance Myrsinus talked about.

He pressed a button on his assault cannon and the barrels began to rotate and build up speed in anticipation of the bloodshed. "Who here is loyal to the Emperor of mankind?" called out Gechorus triumphantly, raising the moral of the brave people around him.

Every single one of them raised their hand and roared in exaltation of the Emperor. Gechorus brought every one of those hands down again with a loud and bloody volley of rounds from the assault cannon.

'Betrayal, no turning back now,' were the words spinning round in Gechorus' mind. He looked around him at the death he had dealt, they were all service men and women loyal to the emperor, 'they would have died in the attack anyway,' he thought. None of the killed were fellow Astartes, he felt assured that at least he did not betray any battle brothers, but this act still left a vile taste in his mouth.

The wall was glowing and the chaos marines would be through in a matter of seconds. Gechorus dropped to his knees, closed his eyes and waited for the 'enemy' to come.

After only a brief moment, the wall exploded and out of the hole poured a squad of chaos space marines. Gechorus was not watching them but he could hear the unmistakable sound of power armour on the metal floor and the sound of flesh and bone being crushed as they stepped on Gechorus' earlier victims.

One of the chaos marines moved close to Gechorus kneeled next to him and spoke in a hushed voice, "did you do this?"

Gechorus only nodded, no further response was necessary.

"If I was to say, 'The eagle has flown out of sight behind the mountain,'" said the chaos marine, "what would you say?"

He thought briefly about the metaphor and replied with, "The eagle will never fly again."

"If I was to ask, 'How would I experience the joy of pleasures undreamt by mortals?' you would respond with…"

There was no need to think on this, the answer was obvious, "The warp is the source of sensations unknown."

The chaos marine had one more question, "If I was to say, 'Long live the Emperor!' you would say…"

"Death to the false Emperor," the words were weak in his mouth, quiet and reluctant. Despite the heresy he had already exhibited, these words were still difficult to say.

"Death to the false Emperor?" asked the Marine, needing further confirmation of Gechorus allegiances.

He looked directly at the one giving the questions, the marine was in violet armour and had horns fixed to his helm, "Death to the false Emperor." He repeated louder this time, it was easier to say now, it almost felt good; "Death to the false Emperor."

"Very good," said the Chaos Marine, "Now get to your feet." Gechorus did as he was told, "I am Brutaka, and this is my squad." Brutaka carried a power sword and was clearly designated as the squad leader. His squad was mostly marines with bolters save for two who carried plasma guns. "You realise that your company doesn't have a hope in winning this fight, you may have a strike cruiser, but we have an entire battle barge; we outnumber you three to one."

"Why are you telling me?" asked Gechorus, "I have surrendered to you."

"We need to know how many marines will be like you, and how many we will need to kill?"

"I am Gechorus of squad Pantaleon," said Gechorus, "I know my squad leader is of the same mind, and the others under his command will follow him."

"Any more?"

"Squad Myrsinus," he replied, "A devastator squad, they use lascannons."

"And the Company Commander?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Take us to your squad."

Gechorus looked back at the room he left Xilthara in, should he bring her with him, or leave her behind? She was involved with a pleasure cult of Slaanesh, but she showed no sign of disloyalty to the Emperor. Would she accept Gechorus now, after he betrayed the Emperor?

"What is it?" asked Brutaka.

Gechorus quickly turned back to the Chaos Marine, "Nothing."

"Someone is behind that door," said Brutaka, eagerly. He began to walk to the door to investigate.

"No," argued Gechorus, "there is no one in there!"

Brutaka paused, "You are a bad liar, Brother Gechorus," he turned to face the terminator, "There is someone in this room, someone very dear to you."

Gechorus started revving his assault cannon again, and stared the Chaos Marine down, if he dared to open that door…

"Do not be afraid," said Brutaka, "I sense this relationship that you share was key to breaking though the steel wall the imperium had set in your mind."

"You will not kill her?"

"Why would we destroy a brother's source of freedom? It is precious and must be protected."

The door opened slightly, Gechorus spotted it in the corner of his vision; he wasn't the only one, some of the other marines in Brutaka's squad noticed too. None were worried or showed any signs of hostility towards what was behind it.

She saw that no one was fighting and she stepped out into the hallway. "Are these not marines of Chaos?" she asked cautiously as she looked at Gechorus standing and talking with them.

"They are our way out of here," he said, "The ways of the Imperium are not relevant anymore."

"But how can you…" she looked around at the violet space marines, their armour adorned with symbols of Chaos and Slaanesh. She moved closer to one of the symbols emblazoned onto the pauldron of the nearest space marine. Fixated by it, she touched it lightly and mumbled under her breath, "Slaanesh…"


	17. Part 2: Chapter 17

They made their way to the Reclusiam, Xilthara was riding on the shoulder of Gechorus' terminator armour. They had found their new allegiance, the traitor warband known as the Knights of Ecstasy. No more fighting for the Emperor, no more living by the commands of the imperium, but Gechorus had to wonder, was chaos now his master? How many morals would he have to abandon to stay alive among his new brothers?

The squad vox fuzzed into life and Pantaleon's voice was heard, "We are waiting for you in the Reclusiam, Gechorus. Where are you?"

"Sergeant Pantaleon," replied Gechorus, "my instinct tells me that Squad Myrsinus has gathered in The Reclusiam with you?"

Pantaleon did not answer.

"I have a squad of heretic brothers with me. If there is a plan in place, now is the time to set it in motion."

"Understood, brother," confirmed Pantaleon, and the vox connection was closed.

"And what if there is no plan in place?" asked Brutaka.

"Then I will be found a heretic and be put to death," answered Gechorus, "But I have faith in my sergeant."

* * *

They reached the door to the Reclusiam, "The Company Captain is in here," said Gechorus, "and I do not think that he will turn."

"Then he needs to be killed," replied Brutaka.

"Yes," sighed Gechorus, "but we do not need to all go in, just me. A fight would break out as soon as they saw your armour and we can avoid that."

"What about me?" asked Xilthara.

"It will still be dangerous in there," he explained, she was small, like a child next to the marines. He did not want to take her into a fight, but he knew the alternative; to leave her in the care of the chaos marines. They professed to be brothers now, but how could he trust them with something so precious.

"We will look after you," said Brutaka, he removed his helmet to reveal a pale bald head with a stretched and sharp grin pulled across it, he kneeled down to get close to Xilthara and look into her face.

"I trust you," she said to the chaos marine, "we have the same mark," she revealed her Slaanesh tattoo to the marine.

His smile growing, Brutaka put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, "Like family," he said.

"No," said Gechorus firmly, "I cannot let you leave me, not now."

The smile dropped from Brutaka's face as Xilthara walked back over to her guardian.

He looked down on her and said, "stay behind me if there is a fight. I will protect you." And he pushed open one of the great double doors to the Reclusiam.

In there the relics and reliefs of Silver Griffons long past looked down on the marines within. A reminder of the devotion to the Emperor of mankind shown by the Silver Griffons through the millennia. Where once he felt proud for being watched by the Silver Griffons who had come before him, now, he felt he could barely look at them.

"Gechorus!" greeted Company Captain Casidus, "Nice to have you with us," he had Chaplain Dionis with him, no doubt organising defences against the chaos invaders. Looking around briefly, Gechorus could see that Squad Myrsinus was there in full along with the rest of Squad Pantaleon. This was no coincidence.

One nod from Myrsinus to Pantaleon was all that was needed for the 'plan' to go ahead. Gechorus did not know if they had discussed anything, or they all just knew what needed to be done on instinct alone.

"Casidus!" called Pantaleon, "Dionis!" The two high ranking space marines looked up from their planning to see what the sergeant of terminators had to say. "Evidence has come to light that heresy has taken root within this company and this ship. Brother Gechorus himself brought it to my attention."

"What heresy, Pantaleon?" inquired the Chaplin as he approached the sergeant. He looked down into the eyes of the terminator with the cold black sockets of his skull helmet.

Pantaleon explained, "There are marines on this ship in silver armour that will follow the invading forces. The simple fact is that we are going to die here and now if we do not surrender to the greater force that is in front of us." Such a simple explanation for things so complex, that was all Pantaleon needed.

"I would sooner die here than become a heretic and an enemy of the Emperor," snarled the chaplain

A large metal hand grabbed the backpack of the chaplain and pulled him to the ground; it was Loukios' power fist. Once he had him pinned, Remus slammed down, into the Chaplain's chest, destroying his body.

The Company Captain was not shocked, he stayed calm, but the look of disappointment and shame was easy to be seen on his face. "This is the path you take, Pantaleon?" asked Casadus looking away, averting his gaze from the betrayers and his now lifeless brother, he mumbled under his breath, "I have failed the emperor." He raised his sword up to his chest and ran at the sergeant. Pantaleon pulled his sword from his side and readied his feet into a combat stance.

Four loud cracks in the air were heard and the Company Captain fell. He was struck four times by lascannon fire from Squad Myrsinus. His final noble charge was cut short and turned into a stumble and a fall.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Pantaleon.

"Killing the one who was master over us," said Myrsinus.

"But he deserved more," argued Pantaleon, "he is still our brother and should have at least been given a noble death."

"I didn't see you treating the Chaplain with such respect," commented Myrsinus, "he's dead now, we should leave him." The devastator squad then left the room.

The body was left on the floor with holes burnt right through his armour. The man who had led them for hundreds of years was now discarded; he was not needed any more.

Gechorus pulled his helmet off to see the slain Captain with his own eyes. Once he had, he did not want to look at him, a necessary deed maybe; but a good and honourable man had now been betrayed by his brothers.

"Who else will join us?" asked Gechorus.

"There are a few," replied Pantaleon, "I am certain of it. Doubt runs deep in this ship." Pantaleon turned to leave the Reclusiam, expecting to have his squad follow him, Loukios and Remus followed.

Gechorus turned to Xilthara who had witnessed the betrayal of the company masters. "You did not need to see such things."

"But it's what you wanted, isn't it?" she asked.

"I wanted to be rid of the Imperium," he said, glancing once again at the body of the fallen captain. "but betraying my brothers is not something I could possibly desire. Casadus has been as family to us for many years, to be even partly responsible for his death is…" he paused.

"What?" she asked urging him to finish, "Are you ok?"

"It's very hard," he said simply.

"What is that sound?" asked Xilthara, quietly to Gechorus.

Gechorus listened out and could hear an unmistakable cacophony coming from a different area of the ship, different to the other sounds of battle. "Noise Marines," he said.

"It's weird, like some crazy music, it sounds good."

Gechorus had been trained to hate that sound and everything that was associated with it. Now he needed to accept it; perhaps in time the sound of an allied noise marine may even sound like sweet music to him too. "We need to leave with the others."

They left the room together and on the other side of the door, the three squads were meeting for the first time.

"So you are the heretics that have boarded our ship," said Pantaleon.

Brutaka raised an eyebrow.

"Welcome aboard," the terminator sergeant said, arm extended.

Brutaka reached forwards and shook the hand of the Silver Griffon. "I heard Lascannon fire. I assume that was you," he said looking at Myrsinus.

Myrsinus nodded, "We killed the Captain of our company."

"A mighty act of betrayal," commented Brutaka, smiling, "may I see him?"

Myrsinus looked over at Pantaleon, "We do not think it would be necessary," said the Terminator.

Brutaka's eagerness backed down quickly "Who am I to argue when faced with Terminators and Lascannons. Surely it was satisfying, no?"

There was no reply from the silver marines.

"Someone's coming," mentioned one of the marines in squad Myrsinus.

"Yes," said Brutaka, "I contacted the nearby noise marines, I knew they would want to meet you."

Meeting with noise marines, not something Gechorus ever thought he would do; fight noise marines, kill noise marines, but not speak with them. Noise marines are sonic wielding maniacs that are totally devoted and obsessed with Slaanesh and all the sick pleasures they believe he brings.

The squad leader for the noise marines walked round the corner fist, wearing the same colour violet as squad Brutaka. He had a bolt pistol and power sword holstered at his waist and simply walked towards the silver griffons. His squad of marines, that were carrying elaborate and bizarrely engineered tools of sonic destruction, followed him.

"Brother Reptile," said Brutaka, "I knew you would want to come and see our new brothers."

"A pleasure," replied Reptile, he removed his helmet to reveal a bald head, with holes for ears and sharp features. "I trust the battle has gone well for you?" he asked Brutaka.

"To tell you the truth, brother, we have not seen much action."

"No?"

"There was the potential for many kills, but we did not see any of it. Gechorus there killed all of the resistance before we broke through," he said pointing at the killer.

"Really?" asked Reptile with a smile, peering at Gechorus to see him for himself.

He saw Gechorus on one knee, he had kneeled down to be closer to Xilthara, the closer he was to her, the more comfortable he felt. He liked being near her, she distracted the mind and comforted the body, exactly what he needed.

Gechorus looked up and saw a small figure moving amongst the noise marines. Something he did not expect to find in the middle of a chaos invasion. It was armoured and carried a strange weapon, but Gechorus knew what it was. It was the unmistakable shape of a tau warrior.

"You work with Xenos?" asked Pantaleon to Reptile, once he saw the alien.

Reptile glanced down at the tau beside him, then back at the terminator, "Some of us live with Xenos," he said with a smile.

"How could you lower yourself to such levels?" scoffed Pantaleon.

"You speak of levels defined by the Imperium," explained Reptile, "We are free from such restrictions."

Pantaleon stepped forwards and grumbled, "It's disgusting, you disgrace yourself. Astartes should know better."

Reptile grabbed his bolt pistol from his side and raised it to point is squarely at Pantaleon. "You would insult my companion?"

Pantaleon smirked and raised his gun, "Your companion is beyond insult, it is your own actions that are so deplorable."

The Noise marines had also taken aim at the terminators, as well as Squad Brutaka.

Gechorus stood up and moved closer to his commander "This is not the time to be petty, sergeant!"

Xilthara spoke up as well, "We all need to work together here," her voice was shakey; she paused to breathe and continued, "Who cares what he does with aliens?"

Reptile nodded in agreement with the documentarist.

"Who are you to tell me how to think?" spat Pantaleon.

Xilthara then stepped back, into the shadows and back into anonymity.

Guns were raised by all the Knights of Ecstasy in the room and all were pointed at one space marine. That one space marine looked around to see that not only had the writer stepped back, but so had the rest of his squad, distancing themselves from the bloodshed to come.

"Stand down, Pantaleon," ordered Myrsinus, Pantaleon glanced over to see four Lascannons aimed at him as well, "We need this; we cannot let petty squabbles get in the way of our salvation."

Gechorus could see that Pantaleon had come to his senses, he took a deep breath, holstered his gun and said, "My apologies, I will leave as a brother, not an enemy."

The violet astartes lowered their weapons slowly, Brutaka commented, "You have made the correct decision," his smile had completely left his face, "Come, we need to move on."

Brutaka waited for Pantaleon to walk past him, he and his squad then followed. They did not want to let Pantaleon leave their sight; Pantaleon accepted this and kept walking. The other Silver Griffons and Knights of Ecstasy followed too.

All but Gechorus, who kneeled down to Xilthara and asked, "Have we made the right decision?"

"That decision had to be made," she remarked, "or we would be dead. Now we need to make the most of it," she reached up and planted a small kiss on the side of Gechorus' face.

He smiled, stood up and held his power fist out for her; and she climbed on to his shoulder once again. He then left to join his brothers.

* * *

The Silver Griffons Third Company was no more.

* * *

End of Part 2


	18. Part 3: Chapter 18

In the depths of Commorragh, home of the Drukari, otherwise known as the Dark Eldar.

* * *

Cralmien sat at his desk, he was nearly done. The vile in his hand was full of his grey concoction that he had been working on for a the past week. Each day he had bought a new human subject to test his creation on, and each day he had got the mixture wrong. At least, wrong by his standards, it was always too strong or too weak, always resulting in the subject dying without the perfect amount of suffering.

Cralmien did one last inspection of the vial and judged the shade to be correct. He brought it over to the human chained up in the corner of his room. "Wake up human," he said to the man, tapping his face lightly.

The man raised his head up to see what he was doing, Cralmien reached out to hold the human's hand, but the human pulled his hand back from the eldar. Cralmien grabbed the human's hand once more, but this time held on tight, the sharp shapes of his metallic gloves holding fast and drawing blood. The human did not have the strength in him any more to fight back, he was half starved and had given up hope long ago. Cralmien got his dagger from his side and sliced open a small wound in the palm of the man's hand. This small act brought a small smile to the face of the eldar. Vial in hand, Cralmien then splashed its contents over the human's open wound. He then whipped his own hand away as not to get any of the toxin on himself, he then retreated to watch the results.

The human recoiled at first from being released from the grip of the eldar, then he began to hyperventilate as the toxin infiltrated into his bloodstream. He watched in horror as blackness spread from his wound and started to envelope his hand. He started to scream in dismay and agony when the rotten black flesh of his arm spread. It began to lose moisture and break up. He stretched hopelessly as if to get away from his own arm, animal instinct taking over where logic would tell him that it would make no difference. The blackened flesh on his fingers became so dry and rotted that it fell away from the bone, bit by bit, creeping up his arm.

The human took one last sharp inhale before losing consciousness.

'He's still alive,' thought Cralmien. Having a subject slip into unconsciousness before the end was not the desired effect, the subject needs to be awake for the entire experience, right until the end; or this new poison would be of no particular merit; he added to his notepad, "more adrenalite."

"Benjamin, Grax, come and clean this up," ordered Cralmien. Before the slaves could get in there was a knock on the door. "It's unlocked," he called. Cralmien knew who it was going to be, he was expecting word from the Wych Cult of Ruinous Virtue very soon.

A winged figure came into the room, having to maneuver his wings in order to get through the small door, "Greetings, Scourge," said Cralmien.

"I was told to seek out the head of your order," replied the scourge, he was formal, perhaps wary of the reputation of Cralmien and his Alchemists.

"You're speaking to him," said Cralmien.

"Lord Cralmien," said the scourge, bowing his head in acknowledgement.

"I am no lord," said Cralmien, "I'm just an alchemist like the rest of my order. I do apologies for the mess, I've been trying to recreate the effects of a husk blade using nothing but poison. A little hobby of mine. How can I address you?"

"My name is Dresarieth," he said, "I hail from the Shard Rain. I bring a message from the Wych Cult of Ruinous Virtue. Lady Arielle requires the Alchemists of Yor for a raid on…"

"Lady Arielle," interrupted Cralmien. "That is not a name that inspires confidence."

"Be careful what you say," said Dresarieth.

"Why?" asked Cralmien, "Noone is listening. Why do you think I live down here in this tiny apartment? The anonymity. Intimidation is the key to success in Commoragh but anonymity is the key to safety."

Dresarieth smiled a little, he could see the sense in his logic.

"Noone is listening to us, the only ones who know about this conversation are you, me and…" Cralmien looked around the room, "Benjamin! Grax!" he shouted.

A human and a kroot slave rushed in to clear up the remains of Cralmien's test subject.

"Interesting taste," remarked Dresarieth when he saw the kroot.

"He's more useful than you would expect; he's strong, loyal and more intelligent than you might think. Very good with language skills, better than the human, actually."

"How do you deal with the smell?"

Cralmien grabbed a bottle from his desk, took aim and sprayed a sweet smelling substance over the alien. "It's not only poisons that we make."

Dresarieth gave a smile, but quickly changed back to his formal tone. "I need to send back word to Lady Arielle."

"I have already been briefed on the planned raid and on behalf of the Alchemists of Yor; we will not be joining you on this raid."

"Lady Arielle will not be pleased," commented Dresarieth.

"That's not my problem," argued Cralmien, "has The Shard Rain been roped into her plan of attack?"

Dresarieth nodded, "We will be joining the main force."

"Then a word of warning to you. The last time the Alchemists of Yor were under the command of Lady Arielle, we lost half our number and returned with nothing; no doubt this has not been made known."

Dresarieth shook his head.

"I thought not. She is an incompetent leader, and shares none of the leadership qualities of her mother. I wish you all the best, but I am not coming with you." Cralmien turned back to his experiments, inspecting the vial of adrenalite that he had procured a week before.

Dresarieth left the alchemist to his experiments.


	19. Part 3: Chapter 19

On the approach to Planet Eradis III

* * *

Kaida had donned her battle gear again. It had been repainted in violet to match the Knights of Ecstasy, but still she felt out of place among all the super humans on board the gunship. She had felt like she had become more accepted among the other astartes of the chapter but she couldn't escape the feeling that she had little more respect than one of the human slaves on board the Mourning Maiden. She couldn't shake the fact that the Astartes in the chapter viewed her as if she was Reptile's pet; maybe this was the chance she needed to prove them wrong.

The gunship approached the planet Eradis III, a desolate wasteland that had been uninhabited for some time. They were going down to the planet on the orders of the Sorcerer Nidhiki who said there was a psychic beacon at an abandoned research facility; and it was up to the marines to find it.

The ten noise marines of Squad Reptile were joined in the gunship by Squad Brutaka a tactical squad, and Squad Myrsinus, a heavy weapons team. Squad Esskrimar would drop onto location via jump pack, and squad Pantaleon, terminators, would enter via deep strike teleportation. They would be joined by the transport tanks once the area was secured.

Such a mobilization could only mean one thing, resistance; but Kaida already knew this. She was not worried about her safety, Reptile would keep her safe. The nature of the enemy was what troubled her. It was Tau. Abandoning the Tau Empire was one thing, but Kaida never wanted to kill her own kind.

"You're nervous," said Reptile. He was grooming the plume on his helmet, making sure it looked just right before he headed into conflict.

"Doesn't everyone get nervous?" she said with a smile, trying her best to control the shaking in her voice.

The pilot made an announcement over the loudspeaker "We are approaching the landing site, the door will open in ten seconds."

Kaida filled her lungs with air over and over again, breathing heavily through her helmet filter. The last time she was in ground combat she was taken captive, and she doubted the Tau would be forgiving to a traitor. She checked her gun one last time and stood up with the marines.

"Just stay with me," said Reptile as he put his helmet on, "I'll keep you safe."

The door opened and Kaida was blinded by the light from the desert, there were no features in the entire landscape, just a sand filled desert as far as the eye can see.

There was a small defence force of Tau waiting for them, kaida could tell immediately what they were up against. Two fire warrior strike teams and a crisis team. The amount of astartes ready to assault the position would over power the defence force with ease.

* * *

"Is that all?" asked Esskrimar over the vox.

Kaida nodded to Reptile, who relayed over the Vox, "Yes, we don't think there will be any more."

"It's Pathetic," said Esskrimar, in the middle of blasting off with his jump pack, "These aliens have no aptitude for close combat at all." He landed with a crash next to squad Reptile. Squad Esskrimar followed its leader and landed near him.

Reptile turned to Squad Brutaka and ordered "Search for any survivors. The rest of us will go inside and look for the psychic source."

Approaching the entrance to the research facility, Reptile asked Kaida, "How do you know there won't be more?"

"Tau always attack together, they won't be holding anyone back."

Kaida crouched down and felt the ground she was on, soft, white sand all the way to the horizon, and they stood at the only landmark in the area. A semi permanent research station and small bloodstained battlefield.

"Are you OK?" asked Reptile.

"I'll be fine," said Kaida, "I'm just not used to fighting other Tau."

"They were willing to die for their cause... so they did. We all felt the same way at some point." They continued walking through the battlefield and passed one of the fallen Crisis suits, "My guess is that you would like to have one of those," he said pointing.

"That would be great, but I think this one is damaged too much," she remarked, referring to the hole caused by a lascannon. "…and anyway, I don't know how to pilot it."

"You can learn," responded Reptile, "The first time we find one that is worth taking back, it's yours." She smiled under her helmet; the thought of such a gift was humbling.

They approached the double door entrance to the facility. It was a pretty small, building, most of the workings and laboratories must have been located underground. Four squads, Reptile, Pantaleon, Esskrimar and Myrsinus approached.

"How do we get this door open?" demanded Esskrimar, "let us get in there and be done with this mission. One of you, with the Lascannons, you get it open."

"Lascannons can make holes; you can't blast a door away with them," replied Myrsinus, leader of the lascannon Squad.

"A Krak grenade then?" Esskrimar suggested.

Reptile bashed the door with his fist, "It's too strong, no krak grenade is going to get through that."

Esskrimar looked at all the space marines standing around him, "did none of my brothers think of bringing a melta charge?"

Kaida had looked at the door and had found the control panel to the side of it. She pressed a few buttons and by sheer luck, the Tau who had come through the door to face them earlier didn't think of locking the door behind them. She pressed one more button and the doors parted.

"Very good, little tau," commented Myrsinus as he watched the door open. Esskrimar was the first one in, as soon as the door opened wide enough for him to fit, his squad was not far behind.

"I didn't know that you could bypass Tau security," said Reptile.

Kaida shrugged, "I can't, the door was unlocked."

They walked into the facility; the first thing that struck her was how clean the place was. The floor and the walls were immaculate and had never seen combat; the space marines who entered ahead of her left a trail of sand and blood of battle.

Reptile gave out orders to the squads, "we split up and look for the source of the psychic signal. It might be a daemon sword, it might be a psyker, we don't know."

Esskrimar was pacing back and forwards "Then how do we know when we find it, if we don't know what it is?"

"Nidhiki said you would be able to feel it," explained Reptile, "you'll know when you find it."

"Feel it?" said Esskrimar "This is going to take for ever!"

"I understand what you are saying, brother Reptile," said Myrsinus, "I know what we're looking for."

"Good," said Reptile, "what about you, brother Pantaleon?"

Pantaleon said nothing, he just lead his squad of terminators forwards to the nearest door; Reptile had to step out of his way, only for Pantaleon to bash Kaida with his arm as he went past.

Knocked back a few paces, Kaida did nothing as she watched the terminator squad of four disappear behind the doors.

"Don't worry, little Tau," said Myrsinus, "he is just slow to change in his ways." Kaida was unable to think of Pantaleon as the kind of Space Marine that would ever change, how he could have turned against the Imperium was beyond her.

"Do you understand what you have to do, Esskrimar?" asked Reptile.

Esskrimar grunted as he turned around to find his squad's own path through the facility.

Myrsinus nodded to Reptile before leading his own squad down another route into the facility.

Brutaka stayed outside the facility on guard and to sweep the battlefield for any tau survivors that might be of value.

"Which way shall we go?" asked Reptile, to his Tau companion, before she pointed to a doorway.

 **...**

They walked around the facility for an hour, the place was deserted, there was no one and nothing here. But then why were there tau that rushed out to meet them in battle? Something was going on here. Kaida expected some kind of automated defences to make the facility exploration more difficult, but they remained unchallenged.

Kaida came to a small door, she pressed the button to open it, like they had every other door they came across; but instead of their being nothing worth viewing within, there were three figures cowering in the corner. All tau, one ethereal and two earth caste. Their fear lessened slightly once they saw that it was another tau that opened the door, but fear entered their hearts once more when Kaida was joined by a noise marine.

"What have you found?" asked the marine, it was Narcius, his cold metallic voice from his implanted speaker still sent shivers down Kaida's spine. He didn't look at the tau long before he grabbed them one by one and tossed them out into the hallway behind him; they were unarmed and unarmoured, they did not fight back.

Reptile turned from where he was looking and walked over to them, "Nice to see that this place isn't entirely dead."

"What are you doing here?" asked Kaida, in tau, to the three who were pushing themselves up into a kneeling position.

The female earth caste engineer spoke up, "We are here with Aun'vre Yen'tai Len. In the name of the greater good."

"Why are you here?"

"We are investigating the possible reopening of this facility."

"Have you found anything with psychic energy?"

"Psychic energy?" asked the engineer, she glanced over at the other two Tau beside her, "you mean warp energy? we haven't checked."

Kaida caught a glimpse of Reptile from the corner of her optics, he was observing, and listening.

"Why are you with them?" muttered the ethereal, "you belong with us, fighting for the greater good."

"The greater good is a lie," responded Kaida, "the supposed cause of the Tau Empire is a false one; and you know it, because you have been preaching it."

The female earth caste spoke up, "how can you…"

"They are liars and manipulators!" interrupted Kaida, "the ethereals only 'guide' us to enforce their control."

The ethereal, shuffled over to Kaida on his knees and pleaded with her, "I am only here to serve the empire, let me help you, just listen to my…"

Kaida raised her Pulse Carbine and pointed it square at the face of Aun'vre Yen'tai Len. "You're not talking your way out of this, ethereal. My mind is free." She pulled the trigger and the Ethereal's head exploded.

The male earth caste that had been quiet the whole time yelped in shock and began to shuffle backwards; he bumped into a marine that was standing behind him, looked up and stopped in his tracks, too scared to move any more.

"You two don't have to die here," declared Reptile, as he approached the situation, "We could use people of your talents in our own operation."

Kaida repeated what he had said in Tau to be sure that both of them understood.

"I would rather die than join you," stated the female firmly.

Kaida began to translate for Reptile, "She said that…"

"I know what she said," Reptile acknowledged. "Rubex, would you?"

Rubex stood forwards with his sonic gun in hand "Of course, brother." A gigantic thud was produced by the sonic blaster and the female earth caste was thrown onto her back. The short burst of bass was enough to knock the earth caste unconscious.

The male raised his hands up, "No fight, no fight!" he shouted, it was clear that he didn't know much gothic.

Kaida said to him in Tau, "on your feet, come with us."

The male earth caste slowly lifted himself to his feet and was ready to obey his captors.

Esskrimar's voice interrupted over the vox, "I found the sword."

"Are you sure it's what we're looking for?" asked Reptile.

"Of course I'm sure, brother, don't doubt me."

"Do you feel the energy it possesses?"

"I don't know about energy, but it looks like the Tau were testing it or something. We've reached a dead end anyway, we're coming back."

* * *

Reptile had decided to keep looking for some sort of psychic source despite Esskrimar's report. They went through the last door in their quarter of the facility and found themselves in a large testing chamber.

Kaida's eyes opened wide in amazement at what she saw, this is where the tau were testing prototype weapon systems. Before her was the mighty and immobile figure of a battle suit, but not like any she had seen before. This battle suit was bigger and carried an unusual configuration of two burst cannons on each arm.

"It's a battle suit," remarked Narcius, he turned to Reptile, "is this the one you wanted?"

"It's not up to me," replied the squad leader, "Kaida, what do you think of it?"

"I've never seen one like this before," she said "it must be a prototype."

"Can you drive it?" he asked.

"I don't know, we had a basic overview of the XV8 Crisis suit, but I don't even know what the controls look like in this."

"You," Narcius said to the earth caste, "do you know how to operate this machine?"

The earth caste just stared blankly back at the marine, Kaida then translated for him, "do you know how to work this battle suit?"

"The XV9 Hazard Suit?" replied the earth caste, "No, but it should have an onboard operations manual."

* * *

Reptile had left Rubex and another noise marine in the test chamber, they watched over the two earth caste disassemble the crisis suit for transport. Stepping outside again, Squad Reptile reunited with the other squads of the expedition.

Brutaka approached Reptile, and was asked by Reptile, "any prisoners?"

"A few, but not enough to make our trip worthwhile," explained Brutaka, "the prisoners are already in the rhino, waiting for pickup. Did you at least find what Nidhiki was looking for?"

Reptile glanced back, at the research facility, "we didn't find the psychic source; Esskrimar was sure he found something, though."

"He did," replied Brutaka, " It's a Husk blade."

"Valuable, but not what we are looking for."

Brutaka looked around at the dead Tau of the battlefield, "One has to wonder," he began, "where would the tau find a weapon like that?"

"That would be fairly obvious, Eldar."

Brutaka's eyebrows skewed in curiosity, "then one would have to wonder the reasons as to why they left it behind."

Reptile walked through the remnants of battle, Brutaka walked alongside him and Kaida followed. The smell of a desert filled with corpses was stronger now and it filled Kaida's lungs with revulsion. The sooner they were away from this place, the better.

"We found another weapon in there as well," commented Reptile, "Something for my companion to use."

"Now that is interesting, what is this new weapon? A Tau battle suit?"

"A special battlesuit, it looks stronger and more powerful than what we have seen before."

"You must be looking forward to seeing it in action?"

Reptile glanced at Kaida, "I am."

Brutaka looked down at Kaida and said "If I was a Tau the prospect of using such a creation would fill me great excitement."

Kaida thought back to the suit, and how imposing it was, 'It is incredible,' the thought to herself.

Brutaka turned back to Reptile, "Myself, I don't care for that kind of fighting; there is no feeling behind driving a machine. Fighting like this frees the body and opens it up to a whole world of sensation. Fighting in one of those suits looks like being encased in a dreadnought, not what I would consider a pleasurable way to fight."

"I would never imprison a brother in a dreadnought; the tau battlesuits are no prison for the…" Reptiles head whipped around to look off into the distance.

"What is it?"

"It's a webway portal, about 3 kilometres away."

'Eldar' thought Kaida.

"Do you hear anything else?" asked Brutaka.

"They have vehicles, but I can't tell…" Reptile walked over to squad Myrsinus, and one of the marines holding a lascannon. "The eldar are coming," he said to him, pointing off to the distance, "they are coming from that hill and they are approaching fast."

The marine with the lascannon raised it up to look through its scope; he watched the hill for some seconds before letting a crack of laser energy loose from the gun. "Dark eldar," he said.

Kaida could see a small explosion off in the distance; he must have hit a vehicle.

"A fine shot, my brother," said Reptile with a big smile on his face, "Get ready, there may be more prizes to claim yet."

The other lascannon wielders moved up to stand next to their brother, they kept eyes on the hills to spot any more dark eldar attack craft approaching. Two more let off shots and one small explosion was spotted off in the distance. "Jetbikes incoming!" warned one of the lascannon wielders.

"Focus on the large vehicles; we can take care of the small ones," said Reptile, the other marines had joined the gun line, with squad Esskrimar waiting to jump from behind, and all were now waiting for the Dark Eldar to come within range. "Kaida!" called Reptile, "Stand with me!"

She ran up to her noise marine guardian and stood next to him. Reptile would keep her safe.


	20. Part 3: Chapter 20

Kaida stood with her protector. She gripped her pulse carbine, held it firm, braced against her shoulder and gazed down the sights at the enemy. She found herself holding the switch for the inbuilt markerlight, marking targets to aid the aim of her allies. It was muscle memory, once she noticed she was doing it, she stopped. The noise marines had no use for a markerlight.

The enemy was coming closer, she could make out the shapes of the larger vehicles, they were sleek and elegant and seemed to be using sails to ride the wind or perhaps harness some other form of energy. These were designed for speed not durability, and could not survive a direct hit with a lascannon; another of them burst into flames and crashed to the ground.

As the enemy closed into range the Noise marines started up their own engines of destruction. Each Sonic blaster, creating a different noise, each one a tailored instrument, unique to its user. Culminating in a sound akin to a great unholy orchestra, blasting down the smaller flying vehicles as they approached.

One of the single pilot speeder bikes came close to Reptile and Kaida at lightning speed, Reptile just moving out of the way of it's blades. The bike circled around and looked like it was about to come back again, for a return pass. Kaida lifted her Pulse Rifle and tried to stop him. The pulse rifle fired quickly and it was hard to control the kick, but one of her shots managed to connect with the craft, pitching the nose of it into the ground and vaulting the pilot from his seat.

Kaida looked round and saw that the rest of the eldar force had reached the Space Marine lines. It was now a brutal close combat. Reptile was fighting off two eldar on sky boards. Reptile managing to parry their long staff weapons with ease. He locked his sword with one, while quickly whipping his pistol round to shoot the other out of the sky, then with a twist brought his power sword down to chop the first board rider from shoulder through to waist..

A loud crash was heard behind Kaida, she whipped round and saw that one of the Marines with the Jump pack had just smashed a sky board rider into the dust, before blasting off again.

The Terminators stood at the end of the battle line, shooting down any clear targets. They were not being troubled by the close combat forces of the eldar, the eldar perhaps seeing them as too dangerous to engage.

The lascannon Team was being swarmed by lightly armoured foot soldiers in close combat, one of the marines had taken to holding his lascannon by the barrel and was swinging it like a hammer.

The eldar Numbers were thinning, but there were still some more in the sky. Winged figures circled above, Kaida didn't need to think twice, she had a clear shot and was not in danger of hitting a friendly target. She sprayed the air where one of them was hovering and clipped it to bring it down, flapping helplessly on it's way to the ground.

Reptile grabbed Kaida's shoulder and shouted, "Myrsinus needs aid!" they were being outmatched in close combat and Reptile wanted to join to even the odds. "Stay with the Noise Marines!"

It was clear the tide was turning, except one could say the momentum of the battle was never in the favour of the eldar. Winged eldar had descended from the sky and had thrown their weapons down in front of them, signalling their surrender. Other eldar were giving up the fight and were stepping back from combat, there weren't many left now, and the close combat squad Reptile had engaged were now subdued.

The Astartes had total control over this engagement. An easy fight.

* * *

Dresarieth sat in the dust with his defeated kin, the marines were too much for them; they destroyed them and forced the eldar into surrender. What's worse, there was only the smallest amount of suffering caused to the Chaos marines' ranks, he only saw a few marines fall, and even then, not all of those were dead. One marine with a jump pack wielded a husk blade; the whole reason for their venture.

Dresarieth's group of scourges, the Shard Rain, had surrendered after losing three of their five, Dresarieth and Feraset were not stupid, they knew that it is better to be taken prisoner and have a chance of survival than to be killed on the battlefield.

He watched them, the marines, the simple way they moved and talked, clearly made from the inferior human species. Strong and worthy enemies, but deplorable to an end, for these were space marines of Slaanesh. A vile, sick and twisted religion, worshiping the very thing that destroyed eldar civilization as it was entering it's apex. Everything they did, they did for Slaanesh, or 'she who thirsts'; but more than that, they enjoyed it.

He watched the marines converse, it was a simple human language they used and Dresarieth knew it well enough to understand. One of the squad leaders with a power sword approached one of the Marines holding a lascannon "I watched you fight," said the squad leader, "I was very impressed, and I didn't see you miss a single shot. It would feel as if I was doing you a disservice if I did not know your name."

"My name is to be forgotten," said the marine with the lascannon, "For I am named after our primarch."

"Surely it would be best to wear that name proudly, as an affront to the Imperium."

"I would rather be given a new name, one that does not remind me of the past."

"Very well, my brother," the squad leader looked him up and down, "you have kept your armour clean, and your aim is pure. Then you must be named for your purity. I would name you Ermine if that would please you."

"Ermine," repeated the marine slowly. He removed his helmet, to reveal a face undeformed by war or chaos corruption, and took a deep breath while gazing over the landscape. "My name is Ermine, and I am a Knight of Ecstasy. You have my eternal gratitude, brother Brutaka."

"Eternal gratitude is not required, brother Ermine" laughed Brutaka, "only your love."

"And what would be a good token of brotherly love?"

Brutaka turned his head towards the Dark Eldar prisoners, "It would strengthen our bond greatly if we could enjoy the pleasures of Slaanesh together."

Ermine looked over the Dark Eldar, "But I am unable…"

"If you are lacking, Slaanesh will provide."

Feraset, shuffled closer to Dresarieth and whispered in his ear, "We need to get out of here."

"How?" asked Dresarieth, "My arms and wings are bound, and so are yours."

She had no idea how to get away from the marines, she whipped her head from side to side, looking for any sign of a possible escape route. Dresarieth had given up looking for a way out of the immediate situation, even if he could free himself from his bonds, he would be gunned down by the terminator with the assault cannon watching over them.

"Look at that," mentioned Feraset, looking over at one of their captors. "Have you ever known a Tau to join with chaos?"

"That is unusual," agreed Dresarieth, the Tau was moving towards one of the captured wyches, "I wonder what it's going to do?"

"Not preaching about the greater good, I'm sure," said Feraset with a smile.

They shuffled towards the conversation; Dresarieth glanced up to the terminator who was watching them. The great hulking sentinel kept his gaze on them as they moved, but he did not act on it, he knew they weren't trying to escape. If he did suspect an escape, two scourges forced to shuffle around on their knees would not be hard to recapture.

The Tau had her helmet under arm and her plain blue face was unblemished. She was kneeling at a distance from the wych, for even a bound wych could be dangerous. The leader of the noise marines loomed behind the Tau, watching over the encounter.

"Can I talk to you, what's your name?" asked the Tau, she spoke gothic just like a human.

"Get away from me, filthy Slaaneshi whore!" spat the wych in one of the many tongues of Commorragh.

Dresarieth covered his mouth to hide his laughter at the abruptness of the wych's reply.

The tau looked round at her noise marine guardian, who just shrugged his massive shoulders, then back at the captive. "I'm sorry, I thought you would speak gothic." She got to her feet and was about to get up and leave, but the wych interrupted.

"I know the human language; it was made for simple minds and I see you speak it well." This reply was in gothic and the tau understood it fully. "But I will not speak with you, your very existence is a sick joke."

The tau didn't respond.

"When that great hulking beast behind you fucks you, does it hurt? Do you enjoy it? Does he split you in half every time he enters?"

The tau was stunned.

"Don't act like he doesn't, I know what your cults involve, you are an insult to your species which was already a pitiful excuse of a lifeform; short lived and physically weak. My name is Gillezra and I will enjoy revelling in the agony of your death. Not only will your suffering give me strength, but I will have the pleasure of making the galaxy a better place by removing the stain of your life from it."

The tau got up and turned to the noise marine leader and walked off with him, "they do not make for good conversation," he told her.

"That was fun," said Feraset with a smile. She looked around searching for a way out, but there was none. It was a barren featureless landscape and there were many space marines, the only notable feature was a rhino transport tank that was parked not far away. "We need to get out of here," she told him, "got any ideas?"

Dresarieth leaned in closer to Feraset, "I do; but we need to wait. There is no way out now."

Feraset worked at the bonds around her wrists. She tried biting and wriggling, and then with one big pull that looked like it dislocated her wrist, she managed to slip one of her hands free. "Look, I can do it," she said. She continued to pull and her other hand came loose, much easier than the first one.

The two scourges had their wings bound, but not tightly. Perhaps the marine that tied them was not familiar with scourge wings. Dresarieth was grateful for this, the last thing he would want is for the wings to be damaged. They were expensive after all. However with his hands bound in front of him, he was unable to reach round and remove it.

Feraset with her hands now free quickly slipped the single bond from her wings and without hesitation, stood up and unfurled her wings to their full span. They were glorious, beautiful white, wings, like a mythical white bird, shining brighter than the desert sands in the sun. Dresarieth could only wish that the surgeon that gave him his wings was as gifted as Feraset's.

A Space marine has spotted Feraset on her feet and ran to catch her, but with one beat of her wings, she was off the ground.

"Rubex!" came a call from another marine and in a moment a noise marine took aim and blasted her out of the sky with a single shockwave.

She landed in the sand again, but got up and darted in the direction with the least guards. A space marine just caught her before she had space to fly again. He threw a punch but it was dodged. He swung his hand again, and again hit nothing. She took three acrobatic steps up the space marine's torso to land a heavy spinning kick to his head. This forced the marine to stagger back clutching his helmet. Now in the air again, she tried to beat her wings to get away but the space marine recovered and grabbed hold of her foot dragging her back down to the ground, pulling her face into the sand.

She tried crawling away, but the marine held her wing up and raised his massive boot.

"NO!" screamed Feraset eyes wide with terror, "Not my wings! Please!"

Dresarieth couldn't watch, he did not show much empathy, but seeing a fellow scourge having their wings mutilated was too close to home. He would never want this fate on a scourge of an enemy faction, never mind a friend with glorious white wings such as hers. He knew what was best for himself though; he just looked away.

"Stop!" came the voice of a marine; Dresarieth looked to see that it was the leader of the noise marines who was walking over to the marine and the scourge. "Don't you see what you're doing?"

"I'm stopping this one from flying"

"Look at what you are destroying. Get her on her feet," commanded Reptile; the marine lifted Feraset to her feet by her shoulder. "Now just look at those wings, rarely have I seen such beauty." Reptile turned to walk away, "do not break them."

"What should I do?" asked the other marine.

"Bind them again; bind them tight."

Dresarieth watched the marine bind Feraset again, this time it was tight, Feraset winced when he pulled the strap with enough force to cut into the feathers on her wings.

They were now approached by another marine with a power sword, this one was the leader of what they called the tactical squad.

"Brother Mikah," said the marine with the power sword.

"Brother Brutaka," responded the marine.

Brutaka glanced at the scourge in the sand and said, "are you ok? It looks like that small Xeno woman hit you pretty hard."

"They are stronger than they look," said Mikah.

Brutaka moved closer to Mikah and lifted the helmet from his brother's head to reveal a handsome human face with unkempt brown hair. "No child of pain is going to destroy your beautiful face."

Mikah held the hand of Brutaka and moved it to caress his face; with his other hand Mikah lifted the helmet off his squad leader and said something softly to him that Dresarieth could not hear.

"Perhaps later, my brother," said Brutaka with a smile, followed by a kiss. Brutaka then turned to a group of marines. "Get them all in the rhinos!" he ordered, "We need to get the eldar moving."


	21. Part 3: Chapter 21

Dresarieth woke up with his face on a cold metal floor, opening his eyes and looking round he could see that he was in a human hangar bay, the room was huge and there were primitive human flying vehicles, sitting ready for takeoff. He looked around and as well as his Eldar kin who were also waking up, he saw some Tau lying on the floor as well. Twelve dark eldar and two tau, was this a good "haul" for these savages?

An escape plan was formulating in his head already; now that he was on their space ship, it would be easier. He would need to take a space worthy craft from the hanger and fly it out, but how would he get it? How would he get in it? Dresarieth was sure that patience was the answer, if he just waits, a solution would present itself.

His head was spinning, maybe it was the after effects of the knockout gas that they used in the rhino, but that didn't feel right, it was getting stronger. His head was starting to hurt, he grimaced and clasped his head in pain. His heart began to race and burn, this wasn't natural, why would he be experiencing this? He looked round and saw one of the doors open and in came a gigantic figure, a massive marine in terminator armour, his glowing pink eyes dominating his appearance. He could feel it, his stare, it only took a glance from the terminator for Dresarieth's very soul to lurch and twist and contort and writhe from the presence of this space marine. This was no normal being; the presence of Slaanesh followed him closely like a shadow and intoxicated the area around him.

"Lord Nidhiki," welcomed Brutaka with a slight bow. The other squad leaders followed his example by also bowing their heads.

"Brutaka," said Nidhiki, returning the welcome, "How was the mission?"

"The mission went well," replied Brutaka.

A smile grew across Nidhiki's face, "Did you find the source?"

Brutaka hesitated, he looked round at Reptile who answered for him, "we could not find any psychic energy there at all."

The smile dropped from Nidhiki's face, "none at all?"

"I'm sorry, my lord," said Reptile bowing his head again.

"Then how can you call this a success?"

"We found other things..."

"What? These prisoners?" asked Nidhiki while gesturing to the dark eldar. "You know my hatred for their kind. They make me sick, just them being here is enough to make me want to die to escape their repulsiveness, their souls are rotten."

Dresarieth tried to focus on the terminator who he had worked out was a chaos sorcerer, he had been followed by two more space marines, both in power armour, draped in red robes, one in a hood and carrying a book and the other with an ornate golden helm.

"In time I will want to see the highest ranking webway-eldar captive," he said while glancing once more at the prisoners, " and keep them in the place furthest from my cabin."

"Of course, my lord," said Brutaka with another nod of the head.

With that, the sorcerer turned and left the hangar. As he walked away Dresarieth could feel the affliction of the sorcerer's presence leave him.

Dresarieth looked around and saw that all the eldar around him were awake, and all had been affected by the sorcerer's presence. If Dresarieth wanted to escape, he would have to avoid Nidhiki at all costs; that may be easier than one would expect, as it does not look as if he wants to be around the eldar either.

The two marines who had entered with Nidhiki remained, "I'll ask the details that Nidhiki could not," announced the one in the golden helm. "Did you suffer any casualties in your encounter with these two forces?"

Reptile answered, "From the initial battle with Tau, we lost Aspasius and Falco; and from the webway eldar we lost Kyritz. Some of us received injuries, and will need medical attention."

'Surely not,' thought Dresarieth, he remembered seeing more marines falling in battle, surely not that many recovered.

"Did you face many?" asked the one in the golden helm.

"There were many eldar, Halphas" explained Brutaka, "but they were badly commanded. They sped towards us in plain sight, and the few that got to our lines were easily overpowered."

"Not so easy for Kyritz," said the marine in the golden helm, who Dresarieth had worked out was called Halphas "I will mourn his passing, it must be difficult for you."

"He was a fine fighter," commented Brutaka.

"I must ask you, how did the new squads perform?"

"Squad Myrsinus would have been flawless, if it wasn't for Falco's death," said Brutaka, "their lascannons always hit their mark."

"And Pantaleon, the terminator squad?"

"It's hard to say," said Brutaka, "they performed well in combat, but I doubt their loyalties to our chapter. Pantaleon did not seem to like taking orders from Reptile."

* * *

"This is their leader," said Halphas, dropping the dark eldar on the floor.

"How did you find out it was her?" asked Nidhiki, "Divination? Telepathy?"

"It wasn't me, my lord," admitted Halphas, removing his golden helm, he gestured to the marine to his left who had helped drag the eldar up to the sorcerer's chamber, "It was brother Myrsinus."

Nidhiki stood up, and looked down upon the squad leader of the devastator squad. "You are the champion of lascannons?"

Myrsinus had never been called that before, but he knew what he meant, "I am the sergeant of my squad, yes."

"And how did you tell that this was the one you were after?"

"It's hard to explain, my lord," said Myrsinus, "I could feel that it was her. I set my mind to the question and an answer presented itself."

A smile grew across Nidhiki's face as his the glare of his deep glowing eyes intensified, "It seems you are gifted with a connection to the warp. Perhaps one day you may join our ranks."

"Please, my lord, I have no great skill with the warp."

"A gift may not start as anything of note," said Nidhiki, "it must be harnessed by the individual and developed into something magnificent."

Nidhiki was incredible, his stature was greater than that of any terminator Myrsinus had seen before, even as he sat in his throne; and his aura was invasive. He felt that even without doing anything, Nidhiki's power was pulsating in the air around him. The energies of the warp were alive in this sorcerer; and Myrsinus was in awe.

"I am sorry, my lord," said Myrsinus, averting his gaze, "I am not even worthy of your instruction."

Nidhiki smiled once more, "I am not offering that you learn from me, champion of lascannon," he gestured to the marine with the golden helm, "If you are willing, you will learn from Halphas," Halphas gave a nod or acceptance to Mysinus, "And in time, Drusas may even share his secrets."

A marine who was sitting in the shadows stood up, red robes draped over his armour and a black tome in his hand, "You will find that the ways of Slaanesh hold many secrets."

Myrsinus considered what was being offered; he had not always had this power. Was it stirred by all those hours spent staring into the warp while traveling? Was his power awoken by submitting himself to chaos? It didn't matter, what did matter were his brothers and his desire to be with his squad were far stronger and far reaching than his desire to be closer to the warp.

"You will not need to leave your brothers," said Halphas reaching out to put his hand on his shoulder, "If anything you will be encouraged to stay…"

"I'm still here!" shouted the eldar, "Am I needed here or is this a waste of my time?"

"Your time won't be wasted," said Nidhiki to the eldar woman. "Myrsinus, I want you to tell me who she is?"

"She is a Succubus, a leader of the wych cult, that much is obvious."

"Tell me more," Nidhiki had his gaze on Myrsinus again, Myrsinus knew what he was being asked.

He gazed upon the dark eldar woman, asking the question in his mind 'what is your name?' and after a minute of searching her face, he made a guess, "Arielle," he said, she took a step back and fixed her eyes on Myrsinus, "Her name is Arielle." It felt like a guess, but he could feel his 'guess' being guided. "And she leads the wych cult of Ruinous Virtue."

"Very good," acknowledged Nidhiki, "now why did she lose the battle?"

"She commanded like a fool," said Myrsinus, "she underestimated how powerful we were."

"You didn't use your psychic abilities for that," commented Halphas.

"I didn't need to."

Nidhiki let out a small laugh.

"Fuck you, 'Champion of Lascannons'" she shouted, "it must be easy to command a band of mindless apes with big guns."

"Do you not know where you are?" asked Halphas, "Do you not know who we are? You are not scared enough."

"Reading minds is one thing," began Nidhiki, "Do you have a good eye for beauty, Myrsinus?"

"I am not used to judging such things, my lord."

"That's OK, I understand that you have not been with Slaanesh for a long time," Nidhiki said, "I want you to tell me what you think of Arielle. Is she beautiful?"

"Have you brought me here just to look at me?" asked the eldar, "we have no reason to fear you chaos marines, you are so boring."

Myrsinus took a look at her slim and elegant physique, and well-kept appearance, apart from the bruising she had got in the battle, she was a fine example of the eldar species. "She looks…" Myrsinus searched his mind for the words to describe her, but in the end he simply said "…nice."

Arielle scoffed.

"Look deeper," demanded Nidhiki.

Myrsinus stared into her face, but could not see anything other than her pleasing and palid outward appearance. He closed his eyes and inhaled, he could feel the energies of the warp, swirling around him, around his body, at his fingertips and in the centre of his mind. He opened his eyes but could only see her body again. She glanced up at him and their eyes met…

She did not like the silence "why don't you just fuck me and…"

"She is hideous," said Myrsinus, "she is all withered and hollow."

"What are you talking about," argued Arielle, "You're insane!"

"Life is not meant to exist like this," he said.

"You're right," said Nidhiki, "her being is an abomination."

"I thought you were going to ask me questions when I got here," she said, "This has been so…"

"You gave me all the answers I needed whenever you entered this room," said Nidhiki, "My interest in Myrsinus' gifts are all that have kept you in this reality for longer than I would normally tolerate."

Nidhiki raised his hand and with it, a soft violet mist rose from nowhere and filled the room with its glow. The mist faded and two beautiful creatures had materialised next to the sorcerer.

"Is that?" began Arielle, "No, no, don't…" she turned and ran to the door frantically slammed her fists against it, "Help! Let me out!" she screamed. No one would answer her cries. She looked around briefly and saw the two feminine creatures approaching her, "Open the door! Please! PLEASE!" she begged, tears streaming down her face.

The creatures laid their hands on her shoulders; she screamed and struggled no more, only cried. The purple mist swirled around them until it completely engulfed them. It faded and they had vanished.

"I do not understand," said Myrsinus.

"Yes you do," argued Nidhiki, with a smile.

"Daemonettes?" said Myrsinus, realising what the creatures were.

"We call them handmaidens," said Halphas, "Beautiful creatures, no?"

"Beyond comparison."


	22. Part 3: Chapter 22

Kaida sat on a box next to Reptile and watched the two tau earth caste reassemble the battlesuit. She had been running the mission through in her head again and again, something wasn't quite right. "Reptile, if we were sent down to Eradis III looking for a psychic beacon, how come none of the psykers came with us?"

"Maybe they thought the psychic signal would have been strong enough for anyone to feel it," said Reptile, "maybe they thought it might be harmful to psykers."

"Maybe you're right," said Kaida, "but I think there might be something else going on here."

Reptile raised his eyebrows at Kaida's suggestion.

"I think there wasn't a psychic source at all."

Reptile moved close to Kaida and whispered in her ear "be careful who hears that."

Kaida went quiet.

A door in the corner opened and Esskrimar entered the hangar bay, he approached Reptile and Kaida.

"Greetings, brother," welcomed Reptile.

"Good day Reptile," said Esskrimar, smiling. "I see you have been tasked with watching the tau rebuild their mech. A joyless activity no doubt."

"They need to be watched," said Reptile, not moving his gaze from the engineers, "earth caste engineers can be very inventive. They could turn the guns on us, or turn an ammunition pack into a bomb if we're not careful."

"It looks bloody boring."

"It's been relaxing watching them work, they work very well together and they do everything very efficiently."

Esskrimar tried to watch them for a few seconds, "It's still bloody boring."

"They are nearly finished," said Reptile "they are just doing a bit of calibration and set up work; we might be able to see it in action soon."

Esskrimar looked around and pointed at the empty dreadnought standing idle, "you think it's going to work like that?"

"It might be similar," said Reptile, "but it's not as well armoured, and it's much more manoeuvrable. Not to mention that you can easily step in and out of it."

Esskrimar took one look at the open cockpit compartment of the battle suit and commented, "I think it's too small for me to step in and out of."

"It's not for you," said Reptile with a smile.

Esskrimar turned to face Kaida, a brutish face, she still remembers how he scared her half to death when she first arrived on the Mourning maiden "Are you up for piloting this?"

Her voice shook as she spoke, "I don't know how it all works, but I'm willing to take it into battle once I have mastered it."

"Once you have mastered it?" repeated Esskrimar, "By the gods, you have way more patience than me, Reptile, what's the point in an asset you can't even use?"

"We will be able to use it, in time," argued Reptile. "What about what you found? Where's your husk blade?"

"I don't know," dismissed Esskrimar.

"You don't know?" gasped Reptile, whipping his head round to stare at Esskrimar.

"Yeah, I lost it somewhere, I don't know," said Esskrimar, "It's just a little eldar weapon, its flimsy and it would break in a proper fight. I'll just stick to my good, strong power sword."

"You must be joking," said Reptile.

Esskrimar looked a bit puzzled.

"You really have no idea how valuable that sword is?"

Esskrimar shook his head.

"It's extremely valuable, a husk blade might be worth the same as a suit of terminator armour, maybe even two."

"I don't believe you."

"Well whatever you want to believe, you've lost it, brother," sighed Reptile, "and we'll never know how much it's worth."

Esskrimar's eyes started darting around, he was starting to panic, and not doing a good job at hiding it on his face. Kaida turned away and bit her finger to stop herself laughing at the space marine.

Reptile started laughing at Esskrimar, "Your face! You were never good at hiding your emotions."

Reptile bashed his fist into Esskrimar's shoulder.

"Don't worry, brother," said Reptile, turning back to watch the earth caste engineers at work. "It's on this ship somewhere. It won't have gotten far."

Kaida had time to observe the relationship between these two marines; Esskrimar looked to Reptile much like one might look up to an older sibling, 'quite fitting' thought Kaida, they called themselves brothers.

Kaida continued to watch the two earthcaste engineers, they were making progress on the battle suit, most of it was put together and they were working on the inside of the cockpit now.

"We had a good time down there." said Esskrimar.

"We did indeed," agreed Reptile.

"Did you see the moment I crashed into an eldar wych on his skyboard?"

"I missed that,"

"It was glorious, he had no idea I was coming, all he saw of me was my boot in his face."

"I assume his skyboard didn't take your weight?"

Esskrimar burst out laughing, "It couldn't; and neither could his face!"

Reptile chuckled as well.

Silence fell for a moment, all there was to fill the air was the quiet whir and hiss of the mechanisms inside the Tau suit. "Someone's coming," said Reptile.

One of the doors to the hangar bay hissed open and one of sorcerers entered, he had a decorated golden helm and red robes flowing from his power armour. "Lord Halphas," greeted Reptile, bowing his head slightly.

"Lord Halphas," said Esskrimar, "you can take your helmet off."

Halphas walked straight towards the tau hazard suit, as he approached Kaida tried to stay out of sight behind the two marines.

"Tell the engineers to move back," called out the sorcerer.

Kaida didn't want to make herself known.

The sorcerer's golden helm turned to stare directly into Kaida's eyes and from it a deep and blood curdling voice was heard repeating itself, "Tell the engineers to move back, or I will think nothing of ending their lives."

"Come on, Kaida," whispered Reptile, nudging her.

Kaida then called out to the engineers in her own language, and sure enough they backed away from what they were doing, but now they had their eyes fixed on the sorcerer.

The sorcerer stood before the alien hulk and began chanting. As he did, the hangar began to swirl with purple light and clouds. He raised his arms up and the swirl of light became more and more intense. The words he was chanting were not recognizable, they were not human. Kaida took a step back from the swirl of colour and light as it intensified. It grew and grew until Halphas lowered his arms again and the light seemed to be sucked into the hazard suit.

The lights on the face of the machine began to glow pink, its arms and legs began to move. It's head darted from side to side as if it was taking in its surroundings, it took a step and then another. It's backpack of thrusters fired and launched the machine to the top of the hangar, from there it dropped down and slammed the ground with its hands, it then thrust itself into the wall and crashed with its shoulder.

Halphas approached and spoke softly, once again using words that Kaida did not recognise. The machine slowed. The sorcerer reached out and touched the machine's chest with his hand, and said "be still, sweet spirit," and it was.

The two engineers were stunned and had no idea what just happened, the machine they had been working on had just lashed out as if it was an animal, and with no one in the pilot seat.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Reptile, "That was not yours to control."

Halphas moved closer to reptile until he was right in his face. "You may hear much, brother Reptile," explained Halphas, "but we see everything. The tau war machine is better off in the hands of the daemon than under your control."

Reptile took a step back, eyes wide open, "What are you saying, Halphas?"

"We cannot allow a xeno on this ship to have this much power."

"So you would hand the power over to a daemon?"

"The daemon is loyal to us," explained the sorcerer, he pointed a big armoured finger at the Tau, "and she is loyal to you, we believe this is better."

"How can you say that, when I already have a whole squad of noise marines at my command?" asked Reptile.

"Look at your tau, Reptile," insisted Halphas, "Whom does she serve? The chapter, Slaanesh, or you?"

Reptile did not answer.

Halphas leaned in closer, "The game you are playing is dangerous, how far did you think you could go?"

Halphas turned and left without giving reptile enough time to answer.


	23. Part 3: Chapter 23

Kaida watched Reptile in the training quarters. He was sparing Brutaka, with training swords, but still deadly in the hands of Astartes, particularly now both Reptile and Brutaka were out of their armour. Each one of the Space marines had his own style of swordsmanship. Reptile was graceful and precise, and Brutaka was very direct and technical. Reptile's movements seemed to be perfect and beautifully formed while Brutaka's sword always traveled the shortest distance between blocks, parrys, attacks and counters. The training was being watched by several Astartes and humans, but the pressure of being watched was not phasing the combatants.

Kaida smiled to herself, at the absurdity of her thoughts, her old fire warrior trainer would laugh if she ever described close combat as graceful.

At the core of it though, she was just in awe of what she was witnessing, two gods of battle locked in combat. They had strength and stamina that only an astartes would possess, every strike they made with their swords reverberated around the room like a crack of thunder and they paused for nothing.

"They look good," came a voice from beside Kaida. Unusually, it was a woman's voice. Kaida looked round to see a woman dressed in similar Slaaneshi styled robes as herself. Similar and clearly above the station of a lowly slave, but Kaida had not seen her before.

"Yeah," said Kaida, "I love watching Reptile."

"I'm Xilthara," said the Woman, "I came here with the Silver Griffons."

"Good to meet you," said Kaida with a smile. Meeting Xilthara was different to talking with a space marine. She was on the same level, not only in terms of height, but also in terms of standing on the ship. For once Kaida felt like she was in the presence of a peer.

"You must be Reptile's tau," said Xilthara.

"Yeah," sighed Kaida with an awkward smile, "My name is Kaida."

"So do you fight?"

"What do you mean?" asked Kaida, "I went on the mission."

"I mean like this, up close, with a sword."

"I've never been very good at hand to hand fighting," said Kaida, "I was always taught to shoot them before they got close."

"Maybe we can do some training together some time?" suggested Xilthara, "We could both get better, you never know when you might need it."

"I don't think I would be any good."

"You never know," said Xilthara with a giggle, "with a bit of practice, we might be able to beat the space marines in a fight,"

"I don't think so," said Kaida, "Anyway, I don't have a weapon."

"You can find one, the dark eldar would have had something you can use." said Xilthara, "I found a really nice eldar sword earlier, it's a bit strange but it looks deadly sharp. I think one of the marines must have left it but it was just lying around in the mess hall so I guess it won't be missed."

"I guess a little training won't hurt," said Kaida with a smile. "It might be fun. What do you think of the Marines' sword skills?"

They continued to watch Reptile and Brutaka duel, "They are really good swordsmen," said Xilthara, "but I think Pantaleon would be able to match either of them."

"You mean the terminator champion?"

"Yes, he is a master swordsman, you don't get to be a leader of terminators for nothing," said Xilthara, "back when we were with the Silver Griffons, stories about his sword skills were legendary. I think he could beat Reptile."

Kaida didn't think so, Reptile was the best with a sword, she just knew it, "Look at how Reptile can move though, you can't move like that in the big terminator armour."

She turned back to watch the fighting, Reptile swung his sword hard and knocked Brutaka's blade into the ground, and with a simple kick to Brutaka's ankles he pushed his opponent off his feet with his hand.

"Another fine training session," commented Brutaka, on his back.

"You're calling an end to it already?" asked Reptile offering his hand to help him up.

"I'm tired," claimed Brutaka.

Reptile smiled as Brutaka took his hand to pull himself to his feet, "You lie."

"I do," admitted Brutaka sharing the smile.

Reptile turned to Kaida and Xilthara, "Kaida, you were talking about Pantaleon?"

"Xilthara said that he would be able to beat you in a fight."

"You think so?" asked Reptile with eyebrows raised as he approached Xilthara.

Xilthara unflinchingly said "Yes, they say he single handedly killed three Ork warbosses at the same time."

Reptile chuckled at the thought "You think I fight like an Ork?"

Xilthara began to shake and slowly move back away from the hulking space marine. "No, no, that's not what I mean…"

Reptile called over to a marine that was standing nearby. "Ermine, this woman believes Pantaleon would best me in swordsmanship. You have seen him fight, what do you think."

Ermine walked over to Reptile from where he was observing the fight, "I think it would be very close."

"I think you're right," agreed Reptile, "a sergeant of terminators is sure to be a fine swordsman." He went over to one of the benches, and carefully slid his training sword into a beautiful purple and gold sheath. He then turned back to Ermine and the two women and said, "But perhaps not, there is no passion and no feeling behind what he does, he lives his life by the drills he has been forced to perform for centuries."

"He doesn't like you much either," commented Brutaka from a nearby bench.

"No, he does not approve of my companion," explained Reptile, smiling down at Kaida "I think he should learn the ways of Slaanesh." He gave a quick glance back to Brutaka who gave a knowing grin back.

"I don't understand," said Ermine.

"How can one have the passion and feeling of a true master of the sword without knowing some passion and feeling from another source?" asked Reptile rhetorically.

"I still don't…"

"He has so far been unwilling to accept Slaanesh into his way of life, what I want is to offer this way of life to him in a way that he could not refuse. If even a tau can learn the passions of Slaanesh, then so can Pantaleon"

Ermine went silent.

"Brother Mikah," requested Reptile, another marine who was near nodded in acknowledgment, "I want you to do something for me."

Mikah began to smile in anticipation for what Reptile was going to tell him, "I want you to go down to the eldar and find a suitable gift to present to our dear brother, Pantaleon. When you find one, I want you to leave it in his quarters. Will you do this for me?"

"Of course," said Mikah, "I think I should bring Ermine with me; it will be a good education for him."

"Good idea. Now go and find the best for our new brother, we don't want Pantaleon to stay dry for ever."

"Of course not," said Mikah with a grin. He turned to leave and Ermine followed.

"I think you will find out who is the best fighter between us soon enough," said Reptile to the two women as he turned away to gather his things.

Xilthara leaned in close to kaida and whispered in her ear, "do you want to come with me? We can have a bit of fun ourselves?"


	24. Part 3: Chapter 24

Ermine walked beside Mikah through the ship, it was a long way to the hold where they were keeping the dark eldar prisoners. "Why are we doing this?" asked Ermine.

"To introduce Pantaleon to the pleasures of Slaanesh."

"He's not going to just throw himself upon an eldar, I don't get it."

"It's more complicated than that, my brother" explained Mikah, "Reptile knows what he is doing; if it does not trigger the lust in his heart, it will act as a provocation."

They walked in silence for a moment, with only their feet on the floor making a sound, "How long have you been a part of this chapter?" asked Ermine.

"I have served the Mourning Maiden for two centuries, and I have never looked back. You only became a brother weeks ago, how are you finding it?"

"It's strange."

"Strange? How?"

"It's the little things."

"Like what?" asked Mikah.

"The main thing for me would be the servitors," said Ermine, "Back with the Silver Griffons there were hundreds of servitors; and they used a whole team just for battle preparation. Here you use human slaves."

"Better don't you think?"

"Servitors were slow, but they didn't make mistakes, I felt like I could trust them with my armour."

"You don't trust the slaves?"

"I don't think they can do as good a job as a servitor," said Ermine.

"They have never made a mistake with my armour," explained Mikah, "You're looking at this in totally the wrong way; think about it this way, what would you rather have touching you after a battle? A cold machine or willing servants that will please you in every way you desire?"

"Why not have the servants tend to you after the servitors?"

"Servitors are cold, soulless machines. Why would you want any contact with them at all?"

"So there aren't any servitors here?"

"No need for them, my brother," explained Mikah, "they would only spread unhappiness anyway. The thought of being alive and not able to feel anything would drive most of us insane, to be one with Slaanesh is to be one with your sensations. To lose your sensations, would be like being cut off from Slaanesh, I for one would rather be dead than be like a servitor."

Ermine was beginning to understand, he moved to the side to let a group of slaves run between the two marines.

"What do you think of the eldar we picked up?" asked Mikah.

Ermine thought back to when he had seen them last, after the battle, on the ground. He cast his mind back to the moment a scourge broke free and nearly escaped. The moment her white wings were open in all their glory will stay in his mind forever; they were pure white in a landscape of dust and war. "I remember the scourge with the white wings," he said, "she was…"

"I know," interrupted Mikah, grinning, "Quite exquisite, she kicks like a titan though. If you're lucky, you might be able to get more intimate with her."

"Intimate?"

"Yes," said Mikah, "I know you've been thinking about it." They turned around one more corner, "They are in here." Turning the lever, he pushed open the door to reveal the the nine dark eldar prisoners, some looked untouched and unharmed, while some were bloodied and used, from either battle or their stay with the Knights of Ecstasy. The room they were kept in was totally featureless, there was no way for them to escape.

Mikah walked in first, "What do you think he'll prefer? Male or female?"

"You think it matters?" replied Ermine.

"Everyone has a preference. What do you prefer?"

Ermine looked around and made a quick and natural response, "I think I prefer the females."

"Really," remarked Mikah, "I always prefer the males, myself, but I can totally understand the draw of a good eldar woman. They are a really tight fit, you know."

Ermine didn't know; a life of celibacy meant that he had no idea what Mikah meant. Ermine spotted the eldar woman with the white wings; the corner of his mouth curled up into a smile at the thought of seeing those wings in their full glory again.

"There's your favourite," said Mikah with a grin, "You can come and get her later if you like."

Ermine continued to watch her, she scowled back and turned away from him, but this just gave him a better view of her magnificent wings.

Mikah interrupted Ermine's thoughts, "Brother Pantaleon strikes me as one who would prefer the eldar women."

"How do you know?" asked Ermine.

Mikah stood and pondered a bit and he shrugged, "Just a guess. She looks like a good one," he said pointing at the second nearest one.

She stood up immediately and started moving to the far side of the room, "Fuck you, space marine freaks, go and rot in hell with your god."

The dark eldar scattered. Were they not like battle brothers? Not one of them wanted to stand with with the one that had been nominated by Mikah.

Ermine stood by the door as Mikah pulled his bolt pistol from his side and walked up to her with his gun pointed at her head. "If you don't come with us, now I will shoot you, and you won't be going anywhere." Eldar are clever, maybe she will work out that she has more chance of surviving if she cooperates, even just for a little while.

Mikah got close and put his hand on her shoulder, he lowered his gun and like lightning, she reacted, slapping his arm away, then vaulting over the marine's head, and delivering a quick series of jabs to the marines lower back, perhaps looking for a weakness on the unarmoured torso; but none could be found. Mikah turned and rammed his knee into the stomach of the woman, buckling her over. He then grabbed her head and held her in a headlock as he forced the barrel of his bolt pistol into her mouth.

"Do you know what this is?" he said calmly as she struggled for freedom. He waited for a slight nodding movement before continuing through gritted teeth. "This is my bolt pistol, it fires a self-propelled round though the air, which will explode just after it hits flesh. At this angle, when I fire, the shot will travel down the length of your body. Where do you think it will explode, your chest, your guts or will it just find its way through your body and out your cunt?"

The eldar woman kept darting her eyes from looking at the bolt pistol to looking at Mikah.

"I'm curious," said Mikah, "Shall we find out the answer to this mystery?"

Mikah flexed his trigger finger and made a small clicking sound with his gun, and this brought a whimper and a look of terror to the face of the eldar woman. He smiled and quickly changed his position to release the eldar from his grasp and shoved her into the arms of Ermine.

They walked out of the room with the woman slumped over Ermine's shoulder.

* * *

After walking for a few minutes the eldar woman regained her original feistiness. "Let me go, you sick, twisted piece of shit. You're worth nothing and you worship a whore god."

"I don't think you're in a position to say things like that," commented Ermine, holding onto her legs, keeping her in place.

"You are a piece of shit, you're a fucking scum bag, you're scum!" she screamed.

Ermine glanced over to Mikah who only shrugged.

She continued, "You're overgrown apes that worship a whore god. You disgusting creatures fuck each other as well. Who has the cock and who has the cunt in your bed. No, you probably have both, you sick…" there was a bang and the slew of insults came to an end.

It took a few moments for Mikah to catch on, "What happened?"

Ermine looked round to the eldar woman's head. She had stopped speaking, and her struggles had slowed to a stop. He pulled her of his shoulder and held her in front of him to see her face. It was covered in blood from her nose.

"You hit her head on the door, you fool," said Mikah while inspecting the damage to her features.

"It was an accident."

"Accident or not, we can't give this to Pantaleon now, it's ruined."

"What do you suggest?"

"Come on," sighed Mikah as he trudged back the way they came, "let's get another one."

* * *

They arrived in Pantaleon's room and Ermine dropped the second eldar woman onto the bed.

"Close the door," ordered Mikah, and Ermine did so. Mikah crawled onto the bed and got close to the woman. She scurried backwards but Mikah grabbed her leg and kept her in place. He caressed her face, and she spat on his. She was quieter than the previous eldar woman, but her hatred was still great. Mikah responded to the spit with a backhand to the eldar's face. He then grabbed the shoulder pad of her armour and ripped it off. He then slipped his fingers under the fabric of her wych suit and tore it from her. Now topless, she scrambled to get way, but this didn't stop Mikah from disrobing her further.

Ermine could feel shivers crawling up his spine when he saw her naked form; she was stunning, a beautiful life form. He wanted her, but he remained still. This eldar was not his.

Mikah pulled the straps off the wych suit, then proceeded to roll up the rest of the fabric that had been removed from his victim. He wove the straps and bolts of fabric and leather around the rails of the bed and the limbs of the eldar. He kept going until it was impossible for the woman to escape and she lay there, open for any advances that may approach her.

Mikah ran his fingers up her crotch and drew his tongue across her breast. The eldar woman looked away in dread. "Sorry," said Mika, looking her in the eye, "couldn't resist." He moved to lie beside her and positioned himself so he could speak to her directly. "You are not going to be mine today," he said softly, "a sergeant of terminators has the pleasure of your company this evening," he eyed her body up and down once more, "You should feel lucky, he's a very important astartes."

Ermine was feeling an extreme desire to be in Mikah's position, with his armour off, and close to the naked body of the eldar. It looked comforting, smooth, and soft. The beauty of it only made it ever so much more enticing. But Ermine remained still and kept his temptations at bay.

Mikah spoke to her again, "When our brother, Pantaleon comes in, I want you to give him a message."

"Fuck you," said the woman plainly.

Mikah slapped her across the face again; he was holding back, the last thing he wanted was to damage another prize for Pantaleon. "I want you to relay a message for me, will you do that?"

The eldar woman hesitated; then nodded.

"Good," said Mikah with a smile, "now repeat after me; I am a bitch."

"I am a bitch," mumbled the eldar.

"Speak louder."

"I am a bitch," she said through gritted teeth.

"How do you want me?" continued Mikah.

"How do you want me?" repeated the eldar.

"On my back or on my knees?"

"On my back or on my knees?"

"I am a whore, have your way with me."

"I am a whore," said the Eldar woman, a tear coming from her eye, "Have your way with me."

"I am a gift of noise."

"I am a gift of noise."

"I am all yours."

She paused for a moment; she looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, "I am all yours."

"Very good," said Mikah with a smile. He got off the bed and walked towards the door, "Come, Brother Ermine, it's time to go."


	25. Part 3: Chapter 25

"Brother Myrsinus!" called Gechorus from his cabin, after having his armour removed.

Mysinus approached. "Gechorus, what do you need?"

"I was curious, when you took the dark eldar leader away to the sorcerer, did she tell you anything?"

"She did, in a way," explained Myrsinus, but the sorcerers didn't ask her about the psychic source."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure."

"Did you learn anything?"

"It's strange," continued Myrsinus. "One might have considered the dark eldar to be sympathetic to the cause of Slaanesh. But this would be incorrect; they have all the same fear and loathing for Slaanesh as the craft world eldar."

"They fear us?"

"To a point, yes," explained Mysrinus, "We were with powerful sorcerers and she was able to hide her fear with ease. Two Daemonettes were summoned, and I have never seen such fear before. Perhaps she didn't give us any information, but I was educated in what the eldar believe. All eldar."

"So she was used as training for you?" asked Gechorus.

"I think so," said Myrsinus, "to speak plainly, I don't think Nidhiki believed she had any wisdom to impart."

"Your own private lesson?"

"Perhaps," said Myrsinus, "I believe they wish for me to meditate on what I have seen."

"Maybe they think you have some psychic potential," said Gechorus with a smile. "I am envious."

Myrsinus smiled back, "And I am envious of your armour." Myrsinus looked behind Gechorus and told him, "here comes Xilthara, and she has the little Tau with her."

"Reptile's Tau?" asked Gechorus as he turned to greet Xilthara. Gechorus kneeled down and held his arms out for her. Xilthara had been his greatest friend since moving to the Knights of ecstacy, she was always there to talk to, she was always willing to spend time with him as he came to terms with his new surroundings. But as he got used to things and learned to tolerate his new brethren, she had become immersed in the ways of Slaanesh and was doing things that Gechorus was not capable of partaking in. Gechorus couldn't help the feeling that she was leaving him behind. Before, she was a quiet documentarist, but now she was outwardly a devotee of Slaanesh. Perhaps she had always been this way, but now she was not only allowed, but encouraged to show it.

She leapt up and flung her arms around Gechorus and kissed his face. "You are so much easier to love when you're not wearing that armour," she whispered to him.

No one had changed as much as Xilthara since the Silver Griffons were inducted into the Knights of Ecstasy.

"This is Kaida," said Xilthara cheerfully.

"I have not been introduced," responded Gechorus.

The Tau spoke in a small and weak voice, "You must be Gechorus."

Gechorus said nothing, as Myrsinus placed a hand on his shoulder and said "I must be on my way." he then turned and left.

Xilthara grabbed Kaida's arm and pulled her into Gechorus' cabin. Gechorus watched them as Xilthara jumped onto the bed and Kaida climbed on afterwards. Xilthara lay on the bed and gazed back into Gechorus' eyes; was she trying to encourage him to join, or make him jealous? It wouldn't work, Gechorus was not in tune with Slaanesh and Xilthara knew it. It was best to leave such things with those that can enjoy them. Gechorus decided that it was time to leave; they can enjoy the pleasures of Slaanesh without him there to watch. In turning around he he know Xilthara would be disappointed, he knew she wanted him to be there, but it was not something he could do.

Things were changing too quickly for Gechorus, perhaps because he was old and had been loyal to the emperor for many centuries that such an extreme change in surroundings and morality was just too much to get used to in a matter of weeks. He had seen the members of squad Myrsinus accept the new way of life, he had seen them enjoy fighting for their new god; he had even seen them accept new names. Myrsinus himself was getting in touch with the warp on a psychic level. Gechorus felt like he was stuck in his ways.

He went to speak with Remus, a fellow terminator of the silver griffons. Remus was in his cabin, polishing his armour. It was now a vivid violet, like the rest of this new 'chapter'. Gechorus did not feel the same pride he once did maintaining his armour now it had been repainted.

"How can I help, brother?" asked Remus.

"I need to ask you something?" asked Gechorus.

"What's on your mind?"

"Do you think it was the right thing to do?"

"Joining with the Knights of Ecstasy?"

Gechorus nodded.

"We were delivered here," explained Remus, "The Silver Griffons followed the false emperor and we escaped the lies that enraptured us. It was in the hands of fate as to where we ended up."

"You think the chaos gods put us here?"

"Perhaps," pondered Remus, "everything has fallen together a bit too well for our fate to just be down to mere chance."

Gechorus laced what Remus said together with what he knew about the chaos gods. "You think our futures are being planned by Tzeentch?"

"The architect of fate?" Remus turned back to polishing his armour. "Maybe. At first I was apprehensive and untrusting but I am starting to accept things; the slaves, the freedom," there was a slight pause, "...the sensations."

"I have found the ways of Slaanesh hard to adjust to."

"It's getting closer though, right? I can feel things that I never did before, I've had thoughts that I never would have crossed my mind before," explained Remus, "It's just a matter of time for you too, brother. The emperor no longer controls us, but it will take time to completely rid ourselves of the shackles that kept our minds in place."

Gechorus didn't say anything.

"Loukios is adjusting in his own way, from what I've heard."

"You don't talk to him?"

Remus sighed, "He has become good friends with a knight of ecstasy known as Jeguda, but I know little more than that."

"And what of our sergeant."

"I fear for Pantaleon, he was the first to turn against the emperor, but he seems to resent the Knights of Ecstasy. I think he sees Slaanesh worship as a lack of respect for one's self as an astartes. He might wish that we had been picked up by someone else."

* * *

Pantaleon stormed past Gechorus, he was in full armour minus his Helm, and had his sword in hand. "Brother!" called Gechorus to his sergeant, "why the haste?"

Pantaleon stopped and without turning around, simply called back to Gechorus "Where is Reptile? For I much desire to speak with him."

"He's in the training hall," said Gechorus.

Pantaleon continued on his way towards the training hall. Whatever quarrel there was between Pantaleon and Reptile, it was none of his business, but he would stand with Pantaleon to the death. He may not be taking to his new chapter, but he was the closest brother he had and the leader of his squad. No outside influences would ever break that bond.

Gechorus followed his sergeant through the ship to the training hall. Other marines and slaves began to follow the purposeful terminator as he marched towards his target, curiosity getting the better of them.

Pantaleon reached the training hall and spotted Reptile straight away. Reptile was exposed, he was out of his armour and vulnerable. A wash of dread came over his face as the enraged terminator approached. "Pantaleon, why are you still in your armour?" he asked. Reptile put two hands on his sword and braced himself.

Pantaleon raised his sword up and began his downward swing; Reptile raised his sword to block. Pantaleon, with one twist of the wrist, changed the direction of his swing and smashed into Reptile's sword from the left. And again, throwing the noise marine off balance. Pantaleon aimed lower and Reptile moved to block again. Their swords binded and in the lock Pantaleon smashed his free hand into Reptile's arm. There was a loud crack and Reptile's arm was broken. The terminator then pushed Reptile back into the wall, pinned him and held his sword against his gut.

Reptile was bested. "What are you doing?" asked Reptile, voice shaky and a long way from it's usual confidence.

"What are YOU doing?" replied Pantaleon through gritted teeth. "You defiled my cabin."

Reptile looked to the left and the right, to find a bit of help from somewhere, "It was a gift."

Pantaleon pulled Reptile down onto the floor, and pointed his sword at his throat.

Reptile glanced around and saw the crowd that had gathered to view the fight and gave a little smirk to Pantaleon. Pantaleon looked around at the crowd of gathered astartes and thought carefully about his next move. "The gift was not appreciated," he said with his sword still pointed at Reptile's throat. Pantaleon then moved his sword away and offered Reptile a hand to help him to his feet, "but I don't want to be an enemy today."

Reptile rose to his feet "you made the right choice, brother."

"This doesn't mean you are my brother."

"Maybe not yet," said Reptile with a smile.

Pantaleon just turned and left the room. The crowd parting to make way as the great terminator sergeant passed through.

* * *

Gechorus approached his squad leader, "Brother Pantaleon," he said.

The terminator sergeant turned to face his brother, "Gechorus," he replied, "we need to stay at each other's side."

"I will always be at your side," said Gechorus "so will Remus and Loukios."

Pantaleon nodded in approval and placed his hand on Gechorus' shoulder.

"What has Reptile done?"

"Reptile insulted me, he sent me a 'gift of noise'. It was meant to antagonize me, I don't know his full intentions." said Pantaleon. "I hate Xenos and I always will. I may have turned from the Emperor but I will not turn from the purity that is Astartes. There are practices in this chapter that are a disgrace."

"The pleasures of Slaanesh have so far eluded me," said Gechorus.

"That is good, brother, stay strong, stay pure." said Pantaleon.

They continued to walk down the narrow hallway together. Gechorus could not help but wonder why Pantaleon turned his back on the imperium, "what does he want? What did he think would happen?" but he dare not ask the sergeant.


	26. Part 3: Chapter 26

Kaida was lead by the hand to a small cabin. A human sized cabin, too compact for an astartes. Perhaps, this is the kind of cabin, Kaida would have had if she was not at Reptile's side.

"Is this your cabin?" asked Kaida. It was a bare, very little in the way of personalization, perhaps in the short time Xilthara had been with the Mourning Maiden, she didn't have the time to add her own style to the room, perhaps she just hadn't spent long enough in here.

"Yeah," said Xilthara, "Given to me because of what I did for the Silver Griffons." She leaped onto her bed, it looked a lot bouncier than the Astartes beds, Kaida had been on while on the ship.

Kaida spotted some old leather books on the shelves. "You read?" asked Kaida

"I write," replied Xilthara, "they are relics from my time as a 'documentarist'. I guess nothing is going to get published now, feel free to read anything."

"Maybe," said Kaida, "but I'm not the best at reading Gothic."

"So are you going to join me on the bed?" She said while rolling onto her back.

"What did you do for the Silver Griffons?" asked Kaida while sitting on the corner of the bed.

"I turned them!" said Xilthara in excitement. "I was responsible for turning the last of squad Pantaleon against the imperium."

"How did you do that?"

"I just sowed the seed of doubt, Pantaleon himself did the rest," explained Xilthara. "I don't want to talk about myself though, you are much more interesting. I've never heard of a Tau going rogue."

"There's nothing to say." said Kaida, shying away from talking about herself.

Xilthara shifted herself around to sitting behind Kaida, "I want to know all there is to know about you," Xilthara whispered in her ear, she then ran her hands all over Kaida's body, exploring all the different aspects of her figure. "I want to get to know all of you."

Kaida stood up, "I'm not ready for this," she said, "this is all still new to me, let's just go slowly."

Xilthara was left a little surprised, clearly not expecting the rejection. "You've been here longer than me." she argued.

"I just don't feel comfortable doing this," said Kaida, "it's…"

Xilthara had an eyebrow raised in confusion, then she guessed, "is it Reptile?" she laughed, "are you trying to be loyal to him?"

Kaida said nothing.

"Oh Kaida, you're so innocent," Xilthara moved to beside Kaida and placed her arm around her shoulders. "He's not going to have any interest in loyalty, he's not going to care, he's a noise marine for Slaanesh sake!"

Kaida didn't want to hear it. Kaida didn't want to be with anyone else, she just wanted to be with Reptile. The one who freed her senses, her mind and her soul to the ways of Slaanesh, the one who kept her safe.

"Maybe I can give you something to help you loosen up." Xilthara reached into her pocket and pulled out a small metal container. Flicking open the top of it she shook out two small tablets. "Take a pill and become brand new," said Xilthara with a smile, "You'll feel like a whole new person."

The thought of using a narcotic was not appealing to Kaida, she wanted to stay in full control, she didn't know what that pill would do and she didn't trust Xilthara enough to try something she was giving. "I don't know" said Kaida slowly distancing herself from Xilthara.

"If you don't want to do anything, that's fine" said Xilthara, who put one pill back in the container and swallowed the other one. "let me show you something else instead." Xilthara, reached under the bed to pull out a long object wrapped in cloth. About a meter long, with a handle at one end. "Check this out," said Xilthara as she pulled the cloth off of the object. It was a sword, Kaida Recognised it from earlier, Esskrimar was wielding it in the battle with the Dark Eldar.

The sword was incredible, it looked so impossibly sharp and beautiful in a way she hadn't seen before. It was created to deal pain and cruelty with a level of grace and precision that would seem impossible to a human. Kaida could not only see, but could also feel a strange energy emanating from the curves and waves in the design, appearing like a mist surrounding it and falling to the floor. This sword was much more than just a sharp edge, it was a masterpiece.

"I've never seen anything like it," mumbled Kaida as she ran her hand near the blade, feeling the strange energy surrounding it..

"Yeah, I just found it in the mess hall," said Xilthara. "Can you believe someone would just leave it lying around like that"

Knowing the marine that had left it there, she could easily believe it. "Do you want to go into battle with that?" asked Kaida.

"I don't know, I've never been in a battle before," said Xilthara.

Kaida had seen battle and she knew that a normal human with nothing but a sword was nothing when compared to the threats in the galaxy. Xilthara would be better off staying safe..

ALERT ALERT XENOS OUTBREAK SECTOR 7-G

"What was that?" asked Xilthara

"It was a ship wide alert," explained Kaida, "What would a 'xenos outbreak' be?"

"Xenos means alien," smiled Xilthara, "Maybe it's you, maybe you are the outbreak."

"Yeah, I don't think so," said Kaida, "I think I should get back to my cabin, Reptile might be wondering where I am."

"Let me walk you back," said Xilthara, "it is nice to talk with a woman who isn't a slave."

Kaida accepted, she too was grateful to have some company that wasn't a giant space marine. She was very different, but having a friend that could perhaps be considered equal was something she did not want to lose.

* * *

"Gechorus, wait!" called a voice from behind him. It was Ermine. "I hope I'm not disturbing you from anything important?"

Gechorus turned to face him, "I don't know where I'm going, brother," admitted Gechorus, "how can I help?"

"It's about the Eldar we picked up earlier, I need assistance with bringing one of them from it's cell?"

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Gechorus.

ALERT ALERT XENOS OUTBREAK SECTOR 7-G

"It sounds like your eldar might be coming to us." commented Gechorus.


	27. Part 3: Chapter 27

There were only five Eldar left in the hold. The others had been taken away and their fate was unknown. It's possible that they were still alive, but if they were, they were surely lost now..

It was hard to know how long Dresarieth and the other Eldar had been in this one room. It could have been several days, could be more could be less, but it was not important. What mattered was the Eldar in the hold were getting desperate, they were cold, they were hungry and they could feel the claws of slaanesh at their very souls. It was impossible to know how long they had been left in the hold, the light never changed and there was nothing regular to measure the time against, just the continual rumble of the ship's engine. The only break from the endless waiting was when some Space marine entered the room to take one of them out of the room, never to be seen again, or to have his disgusting way with them there and then.

Dresarieth was one of the five that was left, along with Feraset, his fellow scourge, a reaver pilot and two wyches, one of the wyches was wounded from the battle and unable to stand, her leg had clearly been broken. Perhaps this is why she had not been 'chosen' by any of the marines.

Feraset leaned over to Dresarieth, "we need to get out of here."

"I know."

"This place is too close to he who thirsts," said Feraset, "We have to get away,"

"I know," said Dresarieth again.

"We're all going to die here, there is no way out of this tiny room, and the filthy humans are going to defile us! What are we going to do, Dresarieth?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Dresarieth. He paced around, there was nothing he could use; a flat floor, featureless walls and nothing but a single dim light on the ceiling. He had investigated the door many times, but there was no way past it, it was a heavy and sealed from the other side. Dresarieth considered himself to be good with a lockpick but there was nothing he could work with here. All he could do was wait and it was unbearable.

"We need to make a move whenever someone enters the room again." said the reaver pilot.

"But how" said Feraset, "they are always armed and they are always space marines. I can't fight that with my bare hands."

"They are not all marines," said Dresarieth. "and they seem to be taking us less seriously every time they come in, you know, taking more risks. We need to wait for them to take a big risk…"

"That will never work," said one of the wyches, she was the only one to have been brought back by the space marines. Whatever they did, they left her with a bloodied nose that still had yet to stop bleeding. "Who made you in charge anyway?" she spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the floor, "typical scourge superiority."

"If we get out of here, you can wait behind if you want," said Feraset. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas."

"It's pointless," said the Wych, "we're nothing but playthings to them. We'll never get out of here."

* * *

An hour of silence passed and the door made the familiar unlocking noise again and all the eldar scampered to the far side of the room. It opened wide and a single space marine stepped in.

Dresarieth remembers this marine, red robes over his power armour and an ornate golden helm covering his head, Halphas.

"We have had our fun with your kind," said the marine, the helmet distorting his voice, but not able to veil the hatred it carried. "It is time for you to leave," and with that he turned and left the room.

He just left the hold and didn't close the door. After being locked up for what felt like days, this looked like an invitation.

Feraset stood up and inched her way toward the exit.

"What are you doing?" asked Dresarieth.

Feraset glanced back at her scourge kin and said "I'm getting out of here."

"Don't be so stupid Feraset," spat Dresarieth, "it's the most obvious trap I've ever seen."

Feraset poked her head out the door, checked there was noone around, then lightly stepped her way up the hallway further from the door, until she got to a corner. Peering round, then checking back the other way.

She called back in a loud whisper, "It's all clear, come on!"

The pilot and the wych that could walk followed through the door.. What was the alternative? to wait here in this tiny room for death or worse? Dresarieth got up and followed, if he was going to die, he would go down fighting.

The wych with the broken leg attempted to get up, but staggered and fell to the floor again with a crunch, she grimaced at the pain as she clutched her leg in her hand, "Scourge, don't leave me behind!" she called out, "Help me!"

Dresarieth looked at the wych, helpless on the floor. She had a pretty face, but that wouldn't help her any more and Dresarieth did not want to be slowed by the wounded, he needed to be swift and light on his feet. He turned towards the exit and said simply over his shoulder "Why?" he then left to join the others.

They walked along the corridor with feet as light as possible. The corridors were long and complex, but Dresarieth remembers the way they were brought. If there was any way off the ship it was going to be in the hangar bay.

ALERT ALERT XENOS OUTBREAK SECTOR 7-G

"They know we're here!" exclaimed the wych.

"They knew we were here as soon as that brute left the door open!" retorted Dresarieth. "We need to pick up the pace."

Dresarieth rushed forwards and took the lead of the group. The corridor was narrow and the ceiling was low; even though there wasn't even enough room to open his wings, he still tasted freedom. He was forced to use his feet, but he was still swift enough to lead the others.

He turned a corner and immediately stopped when he saw two large human figures at the far end of the hallway. They were space marines, but without armor. They spotted Dresarieth and ran in his direction.

Dresarieth turned back round the corner he had just emerged from and to the others, "They've seen us."

"Quick in here!" said Feraset as she opened a nearby cabin door; they all rushed in without hesitation.

Dresarieth was the last one in, nearly getting his wing trapped in the door as it was slammed behind him.

He looked back round and saw the Eldar were not the only ones in the room. There were two others, two women, a human and a tau. They just stood there, staring.

The Human was the first to make a move, she dived to one side, reaching for what looked like a wrapped up sword. She grabbed the handle, but the reaver pilot was on her straight away, trying to pull the sword from her. The Tau jumped at the pilot and shoved him into the wall. The wych made a leap toward the human to try and get the sword, but a lucky swing from the human with the uncovered blade found its mark, and its effects left everyone stunned.

The wych received a cut in her arm but within seconds the bleeding stopped and her arm turned black. The wych's life was extinguished only moments before her entire body was dried up and fell apart like ash.

"Husk blade" mumbled Dresarieth.

The human woman lunged with the sword to Dresarieth, but he dodged, only just letting it slip by.

Feraset Launched forwards using her wings to propel her knee into the tau's head, surely taking her out of action.

Dresariesh could hear the lock in the door begin to move, the woman raised the sword above her head, dresarieth quickly went to grab her wrist, delivered a swift palm to the face and leapt over her. Twisting the sword from her grip, he then held her arm and moved the sword to her throat.

The door swung open - BANG BANG BANG, the two marines shot the two other eldar dead. Dresarieth kept hold of the woman and hid behind her.

"Don't shoot!" said Dresarieth as he crouched below the woman's shoulders. It was only when he heard his own voice when he realized how shaky he was. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, so he took a moment to breath, for he needed to think clearly. He glanced over at Feraset's bloodied corpse, her slender frame had been destroyed by two of the space marine's bolt rounds. She was beautiful, and now these monsters had ruined her in an instant.

The woman whimpered something ,"Gechorus!"

"Be quiet!" shouted Dresarieth, "Just let me go and she wont get hurt!"

"Fine," said one of the marines, "just pass her over to me and we will all walk away from this."

Dresarieth glanced past the woman, the space marines were standing in the doorway, with their pistols aimed in Dresarieth's direction. He let out a sigh, this felt pointless, once he passed over the woman then what, he would just run into another Space Marine, or a group of them, how did he know they weren't gathering to his location, or there wasn't a whole battalion waiting outside the door.

The escape was a failure and his life was as good as over; but he wasn't going without killing something.

Dresarieth pulled the sword from Xilthara's throat and pushed her into the arms of one of the Space Marines.

Xilthara looked up into the eyes of the space marine, and this was the time to strike. Dresarieth threw the sword and impaled it into the woman's back. The Space marines were too slow to react.

Dresarieth took one step back and with a loud bang he felt a huge force impact into his shoulder. He felt nothing; and couldn't help but laugh when he saw that his arm had been blasted off by the Space Marine pistol. The Space Marine altered his aim slightly and with another bang, everything was black.


	28. Part 3: Chapter 28

Reptile entered the cabin and saw the bloody scene, three eldar corpses were broken, left where they fell and their blood splattered over the walls.

Kaida lay unconscious on the bed, she had been laid there as if sleeping.

"What happened here?" asked Reptile to the two marines in the room. One was Ermine, the other, Reptile didn't know, but was sure he was in Pantaleons terminator squad.

"The eldar escaped," said Ermine, "they saw us in the hallway and this is where they chose to hide."

"I count three corpses, but there were five eldar," commented Reptile.

"It was that weapon," said Ermine, pointing at the ground. "It turns people to dust when they are struck, and there was only three when we entered the room."

"The husk blade," said Reptile picking it up, "I'll have to get this to its rightful place, thankyou." Reptile glanced at the figure on the bed.

"Your Tau is still alive," said Ermine, "She was knocked unconscious in the fight."

"Thankyou for making her comfortable," said Reptile with a smile, "she means a great deal to me."

"That wasn't me," said Ermine, "that was Gechorus." gesturing over to the other marine.

"Gechorus, I don't believe we've been introduced," said Reptile as he turned to face the other marine.

Gechorus did not show emotion in his face, but a look into the eyes of this man showed the sadness that was consuming him.

"Reptile," said Gechorus, "There was another killed here whose body cannot not be found."

"Who was it?"

"Her name was Xilthara," said Gechorus, "She was the one to free my mind from the brainwashing of the imperium."

Reptile turned to Ermine "There is one more eldar back in the hold where they were kept. She is crying out and in pain and was unable to take part in this feeble escape attempt. Can you go and deal with her?"

"Right away," Ermine replied, he then left the room.

Reptile waited for Ermine to leave, then turned back to Gechorus, "This must be quite hard for you."

"My soul is hard," said Gechorus "like my armor."

Reptile raised an eyebrow, "you said that with no conviction at all, Gechorus, you don't believe it."

Gechorus said nothing, but his eyes fell to where Xilthara had fallen.

"Sit with me," said Reptile as he lowered himself onto the bed. He was careful to set his right arm on his leg without moving it too quickly. The fight with Pantaleon earlier left him injured, but he had dealt with worse in the past.

Gechorus sat beside Reptile.

"Tell me how it happened," said Reptile.

"She was held hostage by the last remaining Eldar. He pleaded for his life, saying that he would let her go if we let him go."

"Did you agree?"

"Yes," said Gechorus, "It wouldn't have made a difference anyway, he would have been caught elsewhere on the ship."

"How did she die?"

Gechorus glanced over to the scene of the incident, "he gave Xilthara over to me, and that was it, we lowered our guns and were about to let him pass. Without warning he just threw the sword and…"

"It struck Xilthara?"

Gechorus, looked over at doorway once more, a tear squeezed from his eye, it was swiftly rubbed away. "I was looking into her eyes as she died… her body fell apart as I held her" said Gechorus, just keeping his composure. "And now she's gone."

Reptile watched Gechorus closely, "she must have meant a lot to you."

"I didn't realise how important she was to me." said Gechorus, "but when I look back, I chose her over the imperium."

Reptile let out a sigh, "this is the nature of what we do, sometimes we lose what we grow to love."

Gechorus looked at him "I have lost a lot, but I linger on."

Reptile put his arm around Gechorus, "Don't just linger," he said with a smile, "embrace this world."

Gechorus didn't say anything.

Reptile stood up and walked towards the door, "did you lay Kaida on the bed?"

Gechorus glanced round at the Tau laying behind him, "I did."

"Do you know her?"

"I met her earlier, but only briefly."

"I need you to do something for me," began Reptile, "Can you stay with her, until she rises."

"Ofcourse," said Gechorus.

"And get her out of this room, it stinks of dead eldar, I'll send some slaves to clean this up." He inspected the sword, there was no blood on the blade at all. "I need to take this to where it belongs." Just about to leave the room, Reptile looked over his shoulder and said " I find her company to be very soothing."

* * *

Reptile stood before the two sorcerers, Nidhiki and Halphas.

"Why have you come here?" asked Nidhiki looking down on Reptile from his throne.

Reptile held the husk blade out in front of him, "I have come to bring the Husk blade to its rightful place." He then laid it on the floor at his feet.

"Very good," said Halphas who stood at Nidhiki's side.

"I found this sword at the scene of a terrible accident," explained Reptile, "The Eldar broke from their detainment and got into a fight with two of the people on the ship; my Tau and a woman called Xilthara. My tau was badly hurt and Xilthara lost her life in the confrontation."

"That is a pity," commented Nidhiki, visibly frowning at the news, "Xilthara was instrumental in turning the Silver Griffons."

"I went down to where the Eldar were being held, there was nothing, no sign of a struggle, no marks on the door, it's like someone simply let them out. And considering that my Tau just happened to be in the same area of the ship at the time, one has to think that it may not have been a simple coincidence." Reptile turned to look at Halphas and could feel the corner of his mouth curl into a smile.

"What are you saying, Reptile?" snarled Halphas.

"My Lords, I can hear many things, but I cannot see everything," Reptile looks directly at Halphas, "perhaps you can tell me."

Halphas glanced over to his superior, "We decided it was time to rid ourselves of the eldar, we don't need those vile creatures on this ship."

"And Kaida just happened to be in the area at the time?"

"Yes," said Halphas, "it was a good opportunity."

"It was messy," said Nidhiki, "You need to exercise more restraint."

"My apologies," replied Halphas.

"So it was planned?" asked Reptile.

"Planned would be incorrect," said Halphas, "like I said, it was an opportunity."

"My Lord Nidhiki," began Reptile with an eyebrow raised, "I didn't know that it was protocol to destroy a battle brother's spoils."

Nidhiki smiled and let out a little laugh, "Your spoils?"

"Yes," said Reptile with a smile "she's mine, her life is not yours to take."

Halphas let out a sigh, "regardless of whether the eldar would have killed her, I still think you've proven your theory."

"Yes, but the end of the game doesn't mean that she needs to die, I still like having her around, I might keep her."

"It's presence here is an affront to the perfection that is astartes," objected Haphas, "How long do you intend to keep this alien at your side?"

"Until I get bored," Reptile admitted.

Nidhiki laughed "The Tau is harmless Halphas, let Reptile do what Reptile does." he turned to Reptile, "you may leave."

Reptile nodded his head to Nidhiki and left the room.

* * *

Kaida opened her eyes and saw the blurry figure of an Astartes sitting at the foot of her bed. Not Reptile, but she recognised him, "Gechorus," she said with a groan, "what happened?"

"You don't remember?" asked Gechorus.

"No." said Kaida, holding her head "Where's Reptile?"

"He told me to look after you." said Gechorus, with a warm smile, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

* * *

THE END

* * *

Authors note:

Thankyou very much for reading this story to the end. It's been a lot of work (but enjoyable work).

Please let me know what you thought of it, I always want to know what others think of my writing and I'm always looking for pointers on where I can improve..

Of course I'm not ruling out the possibility of writing more with these characters, but not for a while yet. I was thinking of writing something about the Adeptus Mechanicus next.


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